Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Stallone has been a movie star for decades, writes and directs some of the films he acts in, and has been recognized by the Oscars. He has made a career of playing roles where he can appear to be peaceful but when pushed, he can push back and carry an action film on his back. Sylvester was well known to film audiences when First Blood (1982) premiered, the first of his John Rambo films. Drifting into town, misunderstood and mistreated, his character Rambo tries to avoid confrontation until he is left with no choice but to stand up for himself. Stallone is such a likeable, non threatening guy, you root for him to be safe but root a little bit more to see him flex his muscles and take care of justice. Playing major roles in long running franchises is easy for Sylvester as he has appeared in 7 Rocky movies (1976-2015, a sequel is in the works), 4 Rambo films (1982-2008), and 3 Expendables movies (2010-2014). His nominations for Oscar awards are for writing and acting in Rocky (the film won best picture, director, and editing) and for best supporting actor for Creed. He more recently lent his voice to Ratchet & Clank (2016), appeared in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 (2017 with Chris Pratt) and will next lend his voice to Animal Crackers being released later this year. His movie with Arnold Schwarzenegger Escape Plan (2013) has inspired 2 more sequels Sylvester is working on. Also upcoming from Sylvester is Scarpa (crime drama), Tough as They Come (drama with Adam Driver), and Ex-Baghdad (action with Jackie Chan).
Sylvester was born in Hell’s Kitchen, New York City, starred in his first feature at age 23 (The Party at Kitty and Stud’s, a soft core), and worked lots since appearing in Bananas (1971 directed by Woody Allen) and The Lords of Flatbush (1974 with Henry WInkler). Keeping his most personal roles closest to him, he wrote, directed, and starred in Paradise Alley (1978), Rocky 2 (1979), Rocky 3 (1982), Rocky 4 (1985), Rocky Balboa (2006), and Rambo (2008). Stallone has no problem acting in comedies such as Rhinestone (1984 with Dolly Parton), Oscar (1991), Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992 with Estelle Getty), provided his voice for Antz (1998), and appeared as the villian in Spy Kids 3: Game Over (2003 written and directed by Robert Rodriguez). A staple of action movies in the 1980s and 1990s, Stallone appeared in Cobra (1986), Tango & Cash (1989 with Kurt Russell), Cliffhanger (1993 with John Lithgow), Demolition Man (1993 with Wesley Snipes), The Specialist (1994 with Sharon Stone), Judge Dredd (1995), Assassins (1995 with Antonio Banderas), and Daylight (1996). He also appears in more dramatic films such as Cop Land (1997 with Harvey Keitel), Driven (2001, great car racing scenes), and Grudge Match (2013 with Robert De Niro who played a boxer in Raging Bull 1980). Having been the star of such franchises allowed Sylvester to move into a producer role for such projects as Ultimate Beastmaster (reality tv show 2017), The Contender (boxing reality tv show 2006-2009), Expendabelles (a female cast version of his Expendable series), Death Wish (starring Bruce Willis in the 2017 remake), and Omerta (crime drama tv movie which he will also star in, directed by Antoine Fuqua).
Thank you and Happy Birthday Sylvester!