Sylvester Stallone

His parents divorced when he was nine, and he eventually lived with his mother. He attended Notre Dame Academy and Lincoln High School in Philadelphia. He attended Charlotte Hall Military Academy prior to attending Miami Dade College and the University of Miami.<br /><br /> When Stallone was nearly broke in New York, barely $50 to his name, he sold the script to Paradise Alley for $100.<br /><br /> Stallone had his first starring role in the soft core pornography feature film The Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970). He was paid US $200 for two days' work. Stallone later explained that he had done the film out of desperation after being evicted from his apartment and finding himself homeless for several days. He has also said that he slept three weeks in the New York City Port Authority bus station prior to seeing a 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". The film was released several years later as Italian Stallion, in order to cash in on Stallone's new found fame (the new title was taken from Stallone's nickname since Rocky and a line from the film). Read Less

In 2007, customs officials in Australia discovered 48 vials of the synthetic human growth hormone Jintropin in his luggage. 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.<br /><br /> His 48 year old half-sister, Toni Ann Filiti, died of lung cancer, six weeks after the death of his son, Sage. She succumbed to lung cancer on Sunday, August 26, 2012. She died at their mother Jackie Stallone's Santa Monica home after choosing to leave UCLA hospital.<br /><br /> Stallone stopped going to church as his acting career progressed but later rediscovered his childhood faith when his daughter was born ill in 1996, and is now an active Catholic.<br /><br /> Known for physically demanding roles, and his willingness to do a majority of his own stunts, Stallone has suffered numerous injuries during his acting career. For a scene in Rocky IV, he told Dolph Lundgren "Punch me as hard as you can in the chest." "Next thing I know, I was in intensive care at St. John’s Hospital for four days. It’s stupid!" While filming a fight scene with actor Steve Austin in The Expendables, he broke his neck, which required the insertion of a metal plate. Read Less

Sylvester Stallone was born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone in New York City, the elder son of Frank Stallone, Sr., a hairdresser, and Jackie Stallone (born Jacqueline Labofish), an astrologer, former dancer, and promoter of women's wrestling. His younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone. Stallone's father was born in Gioia del Colle, Apulia, Italy, and emigrated to the United States as a child. Stallone's mother is of half Russian Jewish and half French descent.<br /><br /> Complications his mother suffered during labor forced her obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during his birth; misuse of these accidentally severed a nerve and caused 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 - an accident which has given Stallone his snarling look and slightly slurred speech. Stallone was baptized Catholic. His father, a beautician, moved the family to Washington, D.C., where he opened a beauty school. Read Less