Stallone, Sylvester

Born: July 6, 1946

Actor, director, producer and screenwriter.
Born in New York, USA.

Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone is an Academy Award-nominated actor, director, producer and screenwriter. One of the biggest box office draws in the world from the '70s to the early '90s, Stallone is an international icon of machismo and Hollywood action heroism. He has played two characters who have become a part of the American cultural lexicon: Rocky Balboa, the boxer who overcame all odds to become a champion, and John Rambo, a sensitive soldier who specialized in violent rescues and revenge.

During the 1980s, he enjoyed phenomenal popularity and was one of the biggest movie stars in the world with the Rocky and Rambo franchises. Stallone's culturally influential films changed pop culture history and he has largely enjoyed a career on the Hollywood A list for over 30 years.

He is considered by many (including the mayor of Philadelphia) as the one who made the city of Philadelphia an international tourist attraction with the Rocky Steps. His immense popularity there has led to a statue of his Rocky character being placed permanently near the Philadelphia Museum of Art as a cultural landmark. On August 2007, a statue of Rocky was also erected in the Serbian village of Zitiste. Stallone's film Rocky has also been inducted into the National Film Registry as well as having its film props placed in the Smithsonian Museum.

Stallone was born in New York City, the son of Jackie Stallone (née Jacqueline Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer and promoter of women's wrestling, and Frank Stallone, Sr., a hairdresser.[2] Birth complications caused partial paralysis in parts of Stallone's face, resulting in his signature slurred speech and drooping lower lip. Stallone's father was an immigrant from Gioia del Colle (in Bari, Apulia, Italy). Stallone grew up in Northeast Philadelphia and attended Lincoln High School, whose band plays at the dedication of the Rocky statue in Rocky III.

He later attended Wheaton High School in Silver Spring, Maryland for a semester. In the 1960s, Stallone attended the American College of Switzerland in Leysin, and the University of Miami for three years. He came within a few credit hours of graduation before he decided to drop out and pursue an acting career. After Stallone's request that his acting and life experiences be accepted in exchange for his remaining credits, he was granted a Bachelors of Fine Arts (BFA) degree by the President of the University of Miami in 1999.

For more information on Sylvester Stallone's acting career please check Wikipedia.

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7. Bancroft, Anne - Actress.
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