About Me
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I'm an Italian-American actor with an awesomely sculpted physique gained overnight stardom as the writer and star of the Oscar-winning sleeper of 1976, "Rocky". my early acting credits include a part in the nude play "Score" and in a semi-pornographic film (since retitled "The Italian Stallion" 1971), and a role as one of the thugs who harasses Woody Allen on the subway in "Bananas" (1971).I subsequently landed parts in other legitimate feature films, but his career only began flying high when he took matters into his own hands and wrote "Rocky". Though he sold the screenplay for a relatively small sum, i was compensated in the form of percentage points and, more significantly, in trading a larger fee for his script for being cast in the title role. The film was nominated for ten Oscars (and won Best Picture) and earned nearly $120 million at the box office. He made his directing debut with the flawed, but watchable, "Paradise Alley" (1978), and has written a number of his subsequent vehicles, on occasion even singing a song for the soundtracks.With the possible exception of "Night Hawks" (1981), which he neither wrote, produced nor directed, i have not been involved with a film as rich and refreshing as his breakthrough. To date he has reprised the role of Rocky in four sequels. For years my only other major box-office successes have been the sequels to "First Blood" (1982) where he premiered the role of gung-ho Vietnam War hero John Rambo. His "Rambo" films, like the "Rockys", steadily declined in quality, while reflecting, contributing to and cashing in on the increasingly conservative political and social climate of the 1980s.I unsuccessfully attempted to break into comedy with the John Landis-directed "Oscar" (1991). As mobster Angelo 'Snaps' Provolone, he gets caught up in a case of mistaken identity. The film demonstrated that the deadpan flair i displayed with one-liners in actioners like "Tango and Cash" (1989) and "Cobra" (1986) did not readily translate to full-blown comedy. Hoping to create a successful genre hybrid in the manner of his Planet Hollywood business partners Arnold Schwarzenegger and Bruce Willis, he again tried lighter fare with the action-comedy "Stop! or My Mom Will Shoot" (1992), but this effort met a cool reception at the box office.I made a profitable return to action fare with two 1993 hits: the mountain-climbing adventure "Cliffhanger", which he co-wrote, and the satirical futuristic fightfest "Demolition Man". Paired with Sharon Stone, he continued on the hit parade with "The Specialist" (1994), a pyrotechnical thriller that did moderate business stateside but went over like gangbusters overseas. By the end of that year, Stallone was the highest paid performer in Hollywood. In December 1994, Savoy Pictures agreed to advance him $20 million against 20 percent of the gross for a then unnamed action-adventure film to be produced in 1996. The following year Stallone averaged $20 million per picture and signed a multi-picture deal with Universal wherein he would receive at least $60 million for his next three films. His $75 million sci-fi comic-book movie "Judge Dredd" (1995), however, crashed and burned at the domestic box office as did "Assassins" (also 1995), which teamed him with Antonio Banderas. He followed up with the actioner "Daylight" (1996) for which he earned a reported $17.5 million as an emergency worker who must rescue people trapped in NYC's Holland Tunnel. Stallone surprised many by forgoing his usual salary and signing to co-star with Robert De Niro and an all-star cast in James Mangold's modestly budgeted ($15 million) independent film "Cop Land" (1997). In the latter, Stallone played a hearing-impaired New Jersey lawman who must investigate New York City cops.Despite earning relatively good notices, though, the actor did not experience a bounce in his career. Too long associated with action heroes, he could not overcome the typecasting. Stallone did provide the voice for Weaver, the soldier ant buddy to Woody Allen's Z, in the animated "Antz" (1998) but it was another two years before he was seen on screen again, this time in yet action crime drama, the remake of "Get Carter" (2000). Audiences saw the Stallone they had come to expect, the tough guy lead. He continued in the same vein with "D-Tox" (2001), playing an alcoholic FBI agent, and in "Champs" (also 2001), teamed with Burt Reynolds for a drama set in the world of CART racing. Stallone showed his sillier side when he took on the role of the antic villain The Toymaker in the sequel "Spy Kids 3-D: Game Over" (2003).I fortunes shifted to another medium: reality television. Following in the successful template of "The Apprentice," producer Mark Burnett paired Stallone--as the star of Hollywood's most well-known boxing-themed film--and boxing champ Sugar Ray Leonard with a reality concept that promised to annoint the next great prizefighter. "The Contender" (NBC, 2005 - ) utilized Stallone as both host and a mentor to the 16 hopefulls vying for a career as a professional fighter as well as a $1 million prize. Well-reviewed and highly dramatic, the series nevertheless had a difficult time finding a wide audience.I raised eyebrows with a 2005 announcement that, at age 60, he would reprise his role as boxer Rocky Balboa for a sixth Rocky movie, tentatively titled "Rocky Balboa," that will see the legendary prize fighter coming out of retirement to mount yet another heavyweight comeback. He then was set to reprise his role as Rambo in a new feature, with production set to begin after he wrapped the new Rocky film.
