Born Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone in Hell’s Kitchen, NY on July 6, 1946, his first moments set the tone for a challenging life: an accident during his forceps delivery severed a nerve in his face, which resulted in his trademark slurred speech and drooping facial features. Stallone’s parents, Jacqueline Labofish – who would later achieve pseudo-celebrity in the 1980s as a wrestling promoter and astrologer – and Frank Stallone Sr. had a combative relationship, leading young Sly to spend several years in foster homes. He eventually returned to his family – which included younger brother Frank – in Maryland, but the marriage soon dissolved, leaving Stallone to relocate with his mother to her new husband’s hometown of Philadelphia, PA. His time there was marked by frequent expulsions from schools and bouts with loneliness and anger. By the time he landed in a school for troubled youth, he was named “Most Likely to End Up in the Electric Chair” by his classmates. Sports and exercise provided his sole positive outlet.

Poor grades restricted Stallone’s choices for higher education, so he ended up spending a stint in beauty school before attending the American College in Switzerland, where drama courses gave him a new direction. He returned to the United States in 1967 and studied drama at the University of Miami, but departed for New York to find work just two years later – and three credits shy of a degree. His speech impediment made it difficult for him to find substantial work, but his brawny physique ensured him of a certain type of role – he was a randy telephone repairman in the bawdy off-Broadway play “Score” (1971) and appeared nude in a softcore grindhouse feature called “Party at Kitty and Studs” (1970), which was revived in the mid-70s after he rose to fame with “Rocky.” Minor parts in Hollywood features like Woody Allen’s “Bananas” (1971) and “The Prisoner of Second Avenue” (1975) eventually came his way, but these too were based entirely on his physical presence, and more often than not, he lost opportunities –including a role in “The Godfather” (1972) – for being too brawny. Frustrated with the lack of opportunity, Stallone headed for Los Angeles, where he intended to make his own way by writing scripts for himself.

His fortunes increased somewhat after the move. Roger Corman offered him his most substantial roles to date in “Capone” (1975), starring as murderous Depression Era gangster Frank Nitti, and “Death Race 2000” (1975), in which he played a futuristic racecar driver with a chip on his shoulder. He also sold his first screenplay, a coming-of-age drama called “The Lords of Flatbush” (1974), in which he co-starred with fellow up-and-comers Henry Winkler, Perry King, and Armand Assante.

In 1975, he witnessed the epic boxing match between underdog Chuck “The Bayonne Bleeder” Wepner and heavyweight champion Muhammad Ali. Wepner’s determination in the face of his superior opponent struck a chord with Stallone, who went home and penned the script for a feature about a good-natured club fighter named Rocky Balboa who gets a shot at the heavyweight title. The script fell into the hands of producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff, whose attention Stallone had caught with the script for another project titled “Paradise Alley.” Both producers wanted the film, but initially balked on Stallone’s request to play the title role. After some deliberation and script changes – including a more upbeat ending – both agreed that the film’s low budget could allow for a relative unknown to play the lead. The result was one of the most invigorating and popular features of the 1970s – a rags-to-riches story enlivened by some of the most realistic boxing footage ever captured on film, as well as Stallone’s unexpectedly funny and tender turn as Rocky – the “Italian Stallion.” The shot of Rocky charging triumphantly up the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art to the strains of composer Bill Conti’s “Gonna Fly Now” score became in and of itself, one of the most iconic scenes in Hollywood history. Directed ably by John Avildsen, “Rocky” went on to gross over $117 million dollars and net three Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Film Editing. Stallone himself was nominated for two Oscars – Actor and Screenplay – and his Hollywood career was effectively launched quite famously at age 30.

Stallone made his directorial debut with “Paradise Alley” (1978), a period drama about three Hell’s Kitchen brothers – Stallone, Assante and Kevin Conway – who get involved with professional wrestling. He then penned and starred in “F.I.S.T. (1978), a drama about a laborer who becomes involved in union organization. Neither proved as big a hit as “Rocky” – though few films could, such was the cultural impact of part I of the Balboa saga – so the inevitable sequel was set for 1979. “Rocky II” rematched Balboa with Apollo Creed (Carl Weathers), the Muhammad Ali stand-in he battled in the first film. Not only did Stallone write this film; he also directed the picture, which, not surprisingly, earned a heavy payday from moviegoers – proving almost as popular as the first. The film also established Stallone’s routine of returning to his best-loved characters after experiencing a bout of flops.

Stallone was a American POW in World War II who participates in a soccer match against his Nazi captors in John Huston’s cult favorite “Victory” (1981), and donned a beard and glasses to play a cop on the trail of a terrorist (Rutger Hauer) for the underrated “Nighthawks” (1981) – the latter of which suffered cuts at the hands of its studio and underperformed at the box office. But in 1982, he rose to the top of the box office yet again with a second frachise-in-the-making: “First Blood,” an action-packed drama about troubled Vietnam vet John Rambo, who tangles with a small town police force. The film, directed by Ted Kotcheff, dampened the dark tone and downbeat ending of David Morrell’s novel – which saw Rambo commit suicide after his rampage – giving Stallone one of his biggest hits since the “Rocky” films. It also (unintentionally) served as a touchstone for conservatives such as then-President Ronald Reagan, who admitted his fondness for the violent picture.

Stallone followed this with another huge hit, “Rocky III” (1982), which pitted the boxer against the brutal Clubber Lang (Mr. T). Though the latest sequel took Rocky even further from his humble roots, audiences still flocked to see the underdog story and the stellar boxing sequences. However, Stallone stumbled mightily with “Staying Alive” (1983), his sequel to “Saturday Night Fever” (1977). Despite a healthy box office take – John Travolta’s last for awhile – Stallone’s turn as director, producer and writer of the overtly cheesy musical – complete with a fur-clad Stallone street cameo and the casting of brother Frank as Travolta’s competition for a lady’s affections – was lambasted by critics. Even more maligned was his next film, the ill-advised musical comedy “Rhinestone,” which saw Stallone singing with Dolly Parton. In the first of several bad career choices, Stallone reportedly turned down the starring roles in “Beverly Hills Cop” (1983) and “Romancing the Stone” (1984) to star in his major flop.

With two back-to-back disasters on his plate, Stallone retreated to familiar territory for his next projects. “Rocky IV” (1985) tapped heavily into the then-current flag-waving political rhetoric for his match between Balboa and a robotic Soviet fighter (Dolph Lundgren). Despite its not-so-subtle flash, the film was the highest grossing entry in the “Rocky” series then to date, earning some $127 million at the box office. The film also served as the launching point for Stallone’s relationship with Danish model and actress Brigitte Nielsen, who appeared as Lundgren’s Russian love interest. After marrying Sasha Czack in 1974 and raising two sons – Sage, who appeared as Rocky’s son Robert in “Rocky IV” and later became a filmmaker and exhibitor; Seargeoh, who was autistic – Stallone filed for divorce and wed the over-the-top Nielsen. Their two-year relationship was covered to dizzying extremes until an abrupt and ugly divorce in 1987. Stallone also revived John Rambo for the ultra-violent “Rambo: First Blood Part II” (1985), which sent the vet back to Vietnam to rescue POWs. Critics blasted the picture for its conservative tone and staggering violence, but it was the second most popular film of the year and a massive hit worldwide. During this period, Stallone also served as executive producer on the TV-movie biopic “Heart of a Champion: The Ray Mancini Story” (1985) and advised the project’s numerous boxing scenes. It was, indeed, his biggest year since his bicentennial breakout in 1976.

The year 1986 marked the beginning of Stallone’s long, cartoonish and critically reviled tenure as an action hero – a status solidified by his participation in the overblown Planet Hollywood restaurant chain, which he co-founded with fellow defenders of cinematic liberty, Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger in 1991. “Cobra” (his second and final feature with Nielsen) was a tasteless and thick-skulled crime pic with Stallone as a taciturn cop hunting axe-wielding serial killers. It scored well among moviegoers, but “Over The Top” (1987), with Stallone as a competitive arm wrestler, and “Tango and Cash” (1989), with Stallone and Kurt Russell as odd-couple cops fighting drug dealers, yielded mediocre returns and much unintended laughter. He returned for a third time as John Rambo in “Rambo III” (1988), which dispatched the homicidal hero to Afghanistan to fight the occupying Soviet Army. The picture, which earned a place in the record books as the film with the most violent acts and on-screen deaths in history, performed poorly at American box offices, but earned massive returns worldwide.

A sea change was required for Stallone’s career in the late 1980s, but his next few projects only extended his losing streak. “Lock Up” (1988), with Stallone as a falsely accused prisoner victimized by a sadistic warden (Donald Sutherland), was an attempt to return to his underdog persona, but found few ticket buyers. Even the revival of Rocky Balboa in “Rocky V” (1990), with John G. Avildsen back in the director’s chair and Stallone as screenwriter, couldn’t muster a respectable profit. And a likable attempt at comedy with John Landis’ screwball comedy “Oscar” (1991) tanked miserably. The nadir of Stallone’s film career came just one year later with “Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot” (1992) – a ghastly action comedy with a pistol-packing Estelle Getty as Stallone’s interfering mom. The Golden Rasberry Awards showered upon the film only solidified the notion that Stallone’s career was stuck in neutral, or fixed in a downward spiral.

But like so many times before, Stallone came back from behind with two major hits in 1993. “Cliffhanger,” by rising action director Renny Harlin, saw Stallone as a spooked mountain climber blackmailed into aiding criminals (led by an over-the-top John Lithgow) in recovering stolen treasury money. The film, which featured breathtaking scenery and stunt work, was a massive summer hit, and was soon followed by “Demolition Man” (1993), with Stallone as a 20th century cop awakened from a cryogenic prison to hunt super criminal Wesley Snipes. Filled with softball pokes at political correctness and Stallone’s own “dinosaur” status, the film also scored mightily in the fall of 1993.

Flush with his latest bout of success, Stallone embarked on a string of high-profile action projects, including “The Specialist” (1994), a glossy action thriller with Sharon Stone and James Woods; “Assassins” (1995) with Antonio Banderas; “Judge Dredd” (1995), a live action version of the popular British graphic novel “2000 AD;” and “Daylight” (1996), a likable if busy disaster thriller. All save “Dredd” experienced anemic ticket sales, and each was picked over with increasing relish by Stallone’s growing legion of naysayers. In fact, Stallone’s paternity case with model Janice Dickinson, whom she had named as the father of her child, earned him more press than his films (Stallone was later cleared of the charge). A change of pace was clearly in need, and Stallone found it in “Cop Land” (1997), a gritty police drama from director James Mangold who would later score big with the Johnny Cash biopic, “Walk the Line” (2005). For his role as a slow-moving, partially deaf suburban sheriff who confronts a police corruption scandal, Stallone gained considerable weight and gave one of his most soulful performances since “Rocky.” Critics responded with some of his best reviews to date, and the picture – which pitted Stallone against such acting heavyweights as Robert De Niro, Harvey Keitel, and Ray Liotta – performed respectably for an indie film. Stallone also took home the Best Actor Award from the Stockholm Film Festival.

In 1997, Stallone married Irish model Jennifer Flavin and settled into second fatherhood with three daughters (born in 1996, 1998, and 2002). At 51, Stallone’s film career was at a crossroads – his greatest successes lay with two roles, both of which he was growing too old to play – at least, according to industry pundits. His dream project, a biography of novelist and poet Edgar Allan Poe, was stagnant, and his standing among critics had improved only slightly after “Cop Land.” Nevertheless, Stallone soldiered on with a film career. He lent his voice to DreamWorks’ animated comedy “Antz” (1998), also featuring Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, and Gene Hackman, which scored well despite the popularity of the similar “A Bug’s Life” (1998) from Pixar. But offbeat choices like this were few and far between, and Stallone was soon back in the action trenches for a string of failures, including an ill-advised remake of “Get Carter” (2000) and the racing drama “Driven” (2001). By the beginning of the new millennium, Stallone’s films were not even receiving theatrical releases – “D-Tox” (a.k.a. “Eye See You;” 2002), the mob thriller “Avenging Angelo” (2002) and “Shade” (2003) were shipped directly to cable and home video.

Stallone caught a break in 2005 courtesy of director Robert Rodriguez, who cast him as the mischievous villain The Toymaker in “Spy Kids 3–D: Game Over,” which proved a monster hit among younger viewers. He also returned to television for the first time since the mid-1980s with two appearances on the show “Las Vegas” (NBC, 2005- ) and as the executive producer and co-host of “The Contender” (NBC/ESPN, 2005-07), a reality show about aspiring boxers. However, the expense of the series and middling ratings forced it off the air in 2005, but it returned in 2006 on the sports network ESPN. The show was marred by controversy when one of its contestants committed suicide during the first season. That same year, Stallone ventured into publishing as the editorial director of the men’s magazine Sly and author of the book Sly Moves, which discussed his personal life and fitness routines.

The following year, Stallone revived the role that made him a star with “Rocky Balboa” (2006) – a surprise to critics and audiences alike with its heartfelt storyline and winning performance by the 60-year-old Stallone, who further impressed viewers by exchanging real punches with professional boxer Antonio Tarver, who played his opponent. The picture went on to become Stallone’s biggest success since “Cliffhanger” and the sixth most successful boxing movie in film history (after the first four “Rocky” titles and 2005’s “Million Dollar Baby”). Once again, Stallone had risen from the ashes of his career to settle as close to the top as he had been in years.