Sylvester Stallone booking

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Finding it a struggle to get parts, he wrote his own screenplay and the Rocky and Rambo legend was
born. From adolescent delinquent to multi-million dollar Hollywood action star. Sylvester Enzio
Stallone was born in New York and attended school in Philadelphia. An accident during birth severed
a facial nerve, leaving parts of his lip, tongue and chin paralysed. The adult repercussions of the
incident have come to signify Stallone’s recognisable slurred speech patterns and drooping lower lip.
These defects during Stallone’s early life left him a sickly child who suffered from rickets and to add to
the stress, his parents were constantly arguing and struggling to support him and his younger brother,
Frank Stallone (who became a B-movie actor). His teenage years proved as taxing following his
parents’ divorce in 1957. Age 15, Stallone moved to Philadelphia to be with his mother, Jackie, and
her new husband. By this time, he had begun lifting weights and was enrolled in Devereaux High
School where he took up fencing, football, and the discus. Following graduation, Stallone received an
athletic scholarship for the American College of Switzerland. While there he was a girls’ athletic coach
and in his spare time he starred in a school production of Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. The
experience inspired him to become an actor and after returning stateside, he started studying drama at
the University of Miami until he decided to move to New York in 1969 to pursue his dream. Stallone
auditioned frequently but only occasionally found stage work and eventually had to resort to appearing
in a softcore porn film, Party at Kitty’s and Studs, which was later repackaged as The Italian Stallion
after he became famous. He managed to secure a bit role in Woody Allen’s Bananas (1971), but after
he was turned down for The Godfather (1971), he became even more discouraged. Rather than give
up, Stallone channeled his frustrations into writing, churning out lots of scripts, some of which were
produced. Still auditioning though, he managed to land a starring role in Rebel in 1973.
In 1974 Stallone married actress Sasha Czack and they moved to California in the hope of building
their acting careers. His first minor success came when he wrote the screenplay for the film, Lords of
Flatbush (1974) with Henry Winkler, which he also co-starred in. The film’s modest success resulted in
Stallone being offered larger roles, but he didn’t attract real attention until he penned the screenplay
for Rocky. Studios were eager to buy the rights, but Stallone was clever and stipulated that he would
be the main star of the film and he must receive a share of the profits. Producers Irwin Winkler and
Robert Chartoff accepted the terms and Rocky (1976) went on win three Academy Awards for Best
Picture, Best Director for John Avildsen and Best Film Editing. It also earned further seven
nominations including a Best Actor salute for Stallone. At last Stallone found himself in the A-list
stakes and not long afterwards, made his directing debut with Paradise Alley (1978). The sequel to
Rocky, Rocky II which Stallone also wrote and directed was released in 1979 and also became a
major success, grossing $200 million worldwide. Aside from the Rocky films, Stallone starred in a
series of other films during the early 1980s which were critically acclaimed but were less successful at
the box office. Stallone scored his second major franchise success as Vietnam veteran John Rambo in
the action adventure film First Blood in 1982. The first installment of Rambo was both a critical and
box office success. Two Rambo sequels Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985) and Rambo III (1988)
followed though despite being hits, critics were less impressed than the original. The success of Rocky
also continued with Stallone directing and starring in two more sequels to the series: Rocky III (1982)
and Rocky IV (1985).To break away from being typecast in the stereotypical ‘tough nut’ role, Stallone
took parts in films of different genres but was unsuccessful. In 1984 he wrote and starred in the
comedy film Rhinestone where he played a wannabe country music singer and also the drama Over
the Top in 1987. The action films Cobra (1986) and Tango and Cash (1989) saw Stallone back in his
natural acting habitat and rekindled his fans’ attention. Rocky V started out 1990 and was intended to
be the last installment in the franchise- it was also a box office disappointment but Stallone bounced
back with a vengeance in 1993 with the blockbuster hit Cliffhanger which went on to take $255 million
worldwide. Success continued later the same year with the film Demolition Man, a $158 million smash
at the box office. 1994′s The Specialist went on to make over $170 million worldwide and in 1995
Stallone played the title character Judge Dredd, based on a British comic book. The film flopped in the
US but Stallone’s overseas box office appeal saved the profits by tallying up a worldwide $113 million.

In 1996, Stallone starred in Daylight which followed in Judge Dredd’s footsteps in being a US flop yet
an international success. Critical acclaim was to come for Stallone’s role in Cop Land in 1997. Starring
alongside Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta, the film was sadly only a minor success at the box office.
1998’s computer-animated Antz was a huge hit, with Stallone taking a backseat from his action man
haven to voice the part of Weaver, the soldier ant buddy to Woody Allen’s Z as part of an all-star cast
including Gene Hackman and Christopher Walken. The millennium began badly for Stallone’s career
as he starred in a string of critical and commercial flops including the remake of Get Carter, followed
by Driven (2001), Avenging Angelo (2002) and D-Tox (2002).
2003 saw Stallone star in the third installment of the Spy Kids trilogy Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over which
was a huge box office success (almost $200 million worldwide). His turn in the 2003 crime drama
Shade was a box office failure yet his performance was praised by the critics and his prominence once
again was set back on track. Next came a shift to a different path for his career- reality television.
Following in the successful formula of The Apprentice, producer Mark Burnett paired Stallone,
because of his Rocky association, and boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard in The Contender (2005).
The concept saw Stallone as both host and a mentor to the 16 hopefuls vying for a career as a
professional fighter as well as a $1 million prize. The series was well-received by critics but struggled
to find a wide audience. Stallone returned in 2006 with the sixth and final installment of the successful
Rocky series; Rocky Balboa. The film saw the legendary prize fighter coming out of retirement to
mount yet another heavyweight comeback and was an international hit and climax to the series, taking
over $150 million worldwide and gaining well-earned positive reviews. Stallone has proved his worth
as the original action hero, continuing to draw in the fans 30 years after his first screen appearance as
Rocky. Released in 2008, the next Rambo instalment, simply titled ‘Rambo’, was a huge success for
Stallone, nearly grossing three times its budget.
Almost 30 years after the first Rambo film, the actor/director showed he still had what it takes to
produce hard-hitting action movies and buoyed by the success of Rambo he set about pulling together
some of the finest action heroes of all time to star in his next project. In 2009 filming began on ‘The
Expendables’ which featured a stellar cast of action greats including Jason Statham, Jet Li, and Dolph
Lundgren plus Terry Crews, Mickey Rourke, Randy Couture, Eric Roberts, and Stone Cold Steve
Austin. Stallone also managed to get his fellow 1980s movie icons Bruce Willis and Arnold
Schwarzenegger to appear in the film. Although their appearances were the briefest of cameos, their
names helped create an incredible buzz around them film which went on to smash to the box office
when released in the summer of 2010. An Expendables sequel has been confirmed and will star
among others Jean Claude Van Damme, and will see Stallone once again take writing, directing and
acting roles.
A fifth Rambo movie is thought to be in the pipeline but no confirmation has been given of a production
schedule.