Ruislip & Eastcote & Northwood Gazette
Hollywood’s biggest hitter
As the latest instalment of Rambo hits cinemas, JANE HAASE looks at Sylvester Stallone’s 50-year movie career
HE MIGHT be 73 years of age now, but Hollywood legend Sylvester Stallone is still playing the action man on screen.
While he is back in cinemas as Vietnam veteran John Rambo in Rambo: Last Blood, his life has more parallels with his other iconic character, Rocky Balboa.
“Every time I’ve failed, people had me out for the count, but I always come back,” the seasoned actor, writer and film-maker once said.
Born Michael Sylvester Enzio Stallone in Hell’s Kitchen, New York on July 6, 1946, his signature snarl and slurred speech was caused by a forceps delivery which severed a nerve and paralysed the lower left side of his face.
The young Sly spent the first years of his life in foster care due to the rocky marriage of his parents, Italian hairdresser Francesco Stallone and Jackie Stallone.
He struggled at school and was expelled several times before enrolling in drama school in Miami, Florida.
Stallone appeared in his first movie The Square Root in 1969, but struggled in small parts until success came in 1976 with his story about no-hoper boxer Rocky. He had to fight to star in his self-penned film as studio executives wanted to give the role to the more well-known leading men Robert Redford or Burt Reynolds.
It went on to score 10 Academy Award nominations, winning the Oscar for Best Picture and triggering one of the most financially successful movie franchises in history.
Stallone then turned to the world of wrestling for inspiration to direct his first film, Paradise Alley in 1978, before heading back into the boxing ring the following year to write, star in and direct Rocky II.
Subsequent films Nighthawks (1981) and Escape to Victory (1981) failed to ignite with audiences, so Stallone was once again lured back to familiar territory with Rocky III in 1982.
The third “Rocky” instalment far outperformed the first sequel in box office takings, but Stallone retired his prizefighter for a couple of years as another mega-franchise was about to commence for the busy actor – Rambo, with First Blood, also in 1982.
It’s hard to imagine anyone else playing former Green Beret John Rambo and snarling, “Don’t push me”, but Stallone didn’t want to play the role. It took a decade to come to screen and, during that time, Steve McQueen, Clint Eastwood, Paul Newman, Robert De Niro and John Travolta all signed up and then dropped out.
Sly never had a problem getting ripped, but he had to take it to a whole new level for this movie.
During filming he would work out two to three hours in the morning, spend 10-12 hours shooting and then finish off with another two to three hours’ workout.
Playing Rambo made Stallone one of the biggest-ever bankable Hollywood stars and today he has an estimated net worth of $400m.
He cemented his hardman image with more hits such as Cobra, Cliffhanger and Judge Dredd.
With a reputation for doing his own stunts, Stallone suffered many injuries, in Rocky IV he asked Dolph Lundgren to punch him really hard – and ended up in intensive care.
His star began to wane in the mid 90s and he made a series of forgettable films, before scoring big again with Rocky Balboa in 2006, the plot mirroring his own career to some extent. The former heavyweight champion, long retired, decides to go for one more big fight.
“Things really started to slow down for me about 10 years ago, and I had a lot of time for introspection . ... It is kind of bittersweet. That is why I wanted to write this film. If I had been cranking out films, very successful ones, I wouldn’t have done this one,” Stallone explained to People magazine in 2007.
More success followed with The Expendables and two sequels, and roles in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2 and Creed which saw him back in the guise of Rocky.
Stallone once said: “Every champion was once a contender who refused to give up,” and true to his word, Rocky 7 and a prequel series may be in the pipeline.
He told Variety earlier this year: “There’s a good chance that Rocky may ride again.”