Sylvester Stallone, one of Hollywood’s most celebrated actors known for his iconic roles like Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, recently released an intimate documentary on Netflix titled ‘Sly’ that chronicles his inspirational rags-to-riches journey from humble beginnings in New York’s Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood to dizzying heights of superstardom in Hollywood.
A Difficult Childhood Mired in Poverty and Abuse
Born in 1946 in Manhattan’s gritty Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood, Sylvester Stallone had an extremely difficult childhood marked by emotional trauma, poverty, and abuse. He was born to an impoverished Italian immigrant family and spent his initial years in tenement apartments. His father Frank Stallone Sr. was an authoritarian who often resorted to physical violence to impose his will.
Sylvester Stallone has revealed chilling details of his abusive childhood – being severely beaten by his father, getting punched hard in the face that resulted in a paralyzed tear duct nerve, and being kicked multiple times by his father during an adolescent polo game.
This constant physical and verbal abuse by his tyrannical father resulted in deep lifelong emotional scars for Sylvester Stallone that shaped his formative years. However, his mother Jackie instilled in him a love for the arts, movies, and storytelling that provided an escape from his daily miseries. Sylvester Stallone also showed a creative flair from a young age by writing stories, poems, and screenplays. This innate talent would later catapult him to greatness.
Taking Baby Steps in Hollywood
Sylvester Stallone moved to Hollywood in the late 1960s chasing his dreams of celluloid success. He struggled for years taking minor movie and television roles that didn’t satisfy his artistic ambitions. His early films like The Party at Kitty and Stud’s and Rebel were low-budget B-movies. According to Stallone, he was so broke that he had to sell his wife’s jewelry to scrape together just $50 to feed his family.
However, this period of intense struggle was not in vain as he utilized his free time to develop his passion for writing. He channeled all his hopes, frustrations, and life experiences into heartfelt stories that reflected his underdog persona.
The Life-Changing Success of Rocky
Sylvester Stallone achieved his breakthrough in 1976 when he wrote and starred in Rocky, considered one of the greatest underdog tales in cinematic history. United Artists agreed to produce Rocky on the condition that Sylvester Stallone could play the title role, which the studio was initially against. They offered him huge sums of money to sell the script on the condition that a mainstream star would play Rocky. But Sylvester Stallone refused a life-changing payday and gambled on himself in a display of tremendous self-belief.
The risk paid off epically as Rocky became a sleeper hit, earned 10 Academy Award nominations, won 3 Oscars including Best Picture, and catapulted Sylvester Stallone to global fame. It resonated with millions as an inspirational tale of tenacity about a down-on-his-luck boxer who gets a shot at the world championship. Sylvester Stallone had astutely channeled the narrative of his own underdog life into his fictional creation.
Intense Rivalry with Arnold Schwarzenegger
Around the same time, another muscle-bound star was rising in Hollywood – Arnold Schwarzenegger. As the two leading action icons of the 80s, Stallone and Schwarzenegger developed an intense rivalry fueled by competitiveness, jealousy, and insecurity throughout the late 70s and 80s. They were constantly trying to one-up each other at the box office through bigger, brawnier, and more explosive action extravaganzas.
Schwarzenegger has frankly admitted to their bitter rivalry, revealing how they tried to sabotage each other’s projects. Their feud cooled off by the 90s as they grew older, eventually developing a friendship. They bonded over co-creating the restaurant franchise Planet Hollywood along with Bruce Willis. But for over a decade, this battle for supremacy between Stallone and Schwarzenegger captivated Hollywood and their legions of fans.
The Box Office Juggernaut of Rocky and Rambo
Emboldened by the smashing success of Rocky, Stallone continued the franchise with multiple sequels throughout the 1970s and 80s which cemented his status as one of Hollywood’s biggest stars. The emotional narrative of Rocky Balboa, an underappreciated, down-and-out fighter from the streets of Philadelphia, was a metaphor for Stallone’s early struggles. With the character of Mickey, Rocky’s trainer who believed in him when nobody else did, Stallone tried to overcome feelings regarding his unaffectionate father who never supported his Hollywood dreams.
In 1982, Stallone repeated his success with First Blood which launched the Rambo franchise starring him as Vietnam war veteran John Rambo. The sequels turned Rambo into a muscular symbol of America’s military aggression and foreign policy in the early Cold War era. With Rocky and Rambo, Stallone became the highest-paid actor of the 80s and 90s, earning paychecks of over $10 million per movie. He had astutely transformed his own life’s story into a profoundly resonant tale of two tenacious American underdogs.
Hits and Misses in the 90s
However, by the 1990s, Stallone hit a career slump as newer action stars emerged and his brand of brawny action movies became outdated. Several films like Oscar, Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot and Judge Dredd tanked at the box office and critical reviews were scathing. There were also personal tragedies like the untimely death of his oldest son Sage in 2012 that devastated him. For over a decade, it seemed Stallone’s glory days were behind him.
The Nostalgic Comeback as Rocky and Rambo
But Stallone remarkably bounced back in the 2000s by reprising his two most famous characters – Rocky Balboa in 2006 and John Rambo in 2008, which appealed tremendously to his loyal fanbase. Despite being in his 60s, Stallone brought back vintage Stallone of the 70s and 80s with these nostalgic return-to-the-roots efforts. The 2006 film Rocky Balboa earned over $150 million worldwide, proving that the Italian Stallion could still pack a punch.
Sylvester Stallone’s Epic Journey
Today, at 76, Stallone enjoys legendary status among the icons of Hollywood. While he continues to work, his recent documentary Sly captures the veteran star in a reflective mood as he poignantly looks back on the rollercoaster ride of his epic journey – the struggles and tragedies he overcame, his intense rivalries, and the euphoric highs of creating two of cinema’s most inspirational underdogs – Rocky and Rambo.
Stallone also expresses some regrets about not spending enough quality time with his family amidst his single-minded pursuit of movie stardom and the grueling demands of celebrity. But overall, his tale represents an inspirational story of passion and perseverance against all odds that has inspired generations. In the words of Stallone himself, he now wants to become a juggler and balance family, life, and career as he marches on in his eighth decade with the same indomitable spirit of the characters he portrayed in his youth.
Sylvester Stallone’s magnificent journey from the unforgiving streets of Hell’s Kitchen to the dizzying heights of Hollywood glory will undoubtedly remain one of the most glorious tales of tenacity in cinematic history for ages to come.
Comments 1