Sylvester Stallone
American actor and screenwriter who wrote the film Rocky (1976), played the boxer Rocky Balboa in seven films and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2010.
Quick Facts
United StatesBiography
Sylvester Stallone is an American actor, screenwriter and director. He was born on 6 July 1946 in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood of New York. He is associated with boxing mainly as the creator and portrayer of the boxer Rocky Balboa, whom he played in seven films over the span of 40 years.
According to the source, he wrote the first version of the screenplay for Rocky in three days after watching the fight between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner on 24 March 1975. He offered the screenplay for $350,000 but insisted on playing the lead role himself, although the studio wanted a star. The film premiered on 20 November 1976 and, of its 10 nominations, won Oscars for best picture, directing and editing. He also directed Rocky II (1979) and Rocky III (1982) himself.
Sources differ on which film his preparation with the former Mr. Olympia Franco Columbu belongs to: one links it to Rocky IV (1985), another to Rocky III. For Rocky IV he trained twice a day, six days a week, and by his own account the opening blows between him and Dolph Lundgren were authentic. After Lundgren's hit to his chest he ended up in intensive care; one source gives four days, another eight.
He wrote, directed and starred in Rocky Balboa (2006). In Creed (2015) he returned to the character as a mentor to the son of Apollo Creed, and in 2016 he won a Golden Globe for a supporting role for this part. In 2010 he was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in the category for personalities other than active boxers.
Achievements and honours
- Hall of Fame2010
Filmography
A screen role does not mean the person actually practises the art — that is listed above.