“I am not the richest, smartest or most talented person in the world, but I succeed because I keep going and going and going.”
Born in 1946, Sylvester Stallone faced hardships right away. A complication during birth with forceps permanently injured the baby causing paralysis in parts of Stallone's face. As a result, the lower left side of his face is paralyzed – including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin – the accident which gave Stallone his snarling look and slightly slurred speech.
His parents had a hostile relationship which was difficult on him and his younger brother Frank. Stallone spent time in foster care but eventually went to live with his mother and her second husband in Philadelphia. He struggled academically and emotionally. He was expelled from several schools and was placed in a special high school for troubled youth. This didn’t seem like the path to success for any young man in the 1960s.
On graduation from high school, he attended the American College in Switzerland where he studied drama. He then went to the University of Miami, where he continued his studies in dramatic arts. He left without attaining a degree to launch an acting career in New York City.
In New York he worked odd jobs including cleaning lion’s cages at the Central Park Zoo and ushering in a theater. Homeless and destitute he took a bit part in a soft core porn movie. He said he did this for the $200 he was paid. Sylvester slept three weeks in the New York City Port Authority bus station prior to seeing the casting notice for the film. In the actor's words, "it was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end – the very end – of my rope.”
Sly secured a few off-Broadway roles and played minor parts in films like Woody Allen’s Bananas, Klute and The Prisoner of Second Avenue. He had a starring role in The Lords of Flatbush, in 1974. In 1975, he played supporting roles in Farewell, My Lovely; Capone; and Death Race 2000. He made guest appearances on the TV series Police Story and Kojak. But Stallone also dreamed of writing, not just acting. On March 24, 1975, he saw the Muhammad Ali vs. Chuck Wepner fight, which inspired the foundation idea of a screenplay. He began working on a story about a rough and tumble thug who struggles for a change to become a professional boxer. The story is told that he spent 20 hours writing the script for Rocky. Sylvester refused to sell the rights to the screenplay unless a studio would agree to one non-negotiable term: Stallone must play the lead role!
Despite having a pregnant wife and very little money in the bank, he turned down offers which didn’t include his sole term. He finally found two producers who were willing to let him play the lead.
Rocky went on to become a box office smash in 1976 and won 10 academy award nominations including Best Picture and Best Screenplay. It went on to win the Oscar against such famous films as Taxi Driver, Network and All The President’s Men. Suddenly, poor Sly was the toast of Hollywood.
He made five more Rocky films building of the success of the first role. In 1982 he introduced a new character to movie goers: John Rambo. In First Blood and Rambo: First Blood 2 and First Blood 3, Sylvester played a disenfranchised and troubled Vietnam Veteran. He also went on to produce and act in other films as well as direct. Although he starred in many other films, the reviews and audiences didn’t respond as well as to the two film series.
Sylvester had become the toast of the film industry for roles he wrote and played, though. He frequently performed many of his own stunts. He asked co-star Dolph Lundgren to punch him in the chest as hard as he could while filming Rocky IV. "Next thing I know, I was in intensive care at St. John’s Hospital for four days. It’s stupid!” he said. He also broke his back and other bones while filming other roles.
In later years Sly’s popularity waned and he revisited former successful roles with Rocky Balboa and Rambo. In 2010, he starred with Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in The Expendables. They reunited two years later for a sequel, The Expendables II which grossed $28.6 million and was #1 at the box office.
Personally Stallone suffered from setbacks. He was divorced twice and had two sons. His eldest son, Sage was found dead in Los Angeles in 2012. While recovering from this tragedy he said in an interview, “Time, hopefully, will heal, and you try to get through it, but it's just something. It's a reality of life. I think it's important to get back and start reliving your life. Otherwise, you can go into a spiral.”
Recently he has filmed the third installment to The Expendables while working on other projects as well. The next time you think you are facing obstacles that overwhelm you, remember Sylvester Stallone and his persistence and diligence in striving for success.
Stallone commented on his life by saying, “I take rejection as someone blowing a bugle in my ear to wake me up and get going, rather than retreat.”
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