Random Fascinating Stories About Sylvester Stallone, Hollywood's Most Macho Sta (14 items)

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  (#1) He Encouraged Dolph Lundgren To Knock Him Out In 'Rocky IV'

  While doing press for Rambo V: Last Blood in Cannes, France, in May 2019, Stallone recalled his first interactions with Dolph Lundgren. As the antagonist in Rocky IV, audiences weren't supposed to like Ivan Drago and, from Stallone's recount, he didn't like Lundgren either.

  This was by design. When Stallone first saw him, he thought Lundgren, "was like the real Terminator, and I go, ‘I hate this friggin’ guy.' He’s just too perfect, too good looking. And if I loathe him, I’m sure the world will. He’s not really, but he looks like something that’s a thousand years in the future. This is not a guy you see waiting on your table."

  Stallone knew Lundgren was perfect to play Drago, the ideal "superhuman being... someone who would be overwhelming... someone who is literally perfect. Indestructible. Shoulders, calves, forearms, giant butt, neck, back, everything." One day, while shooting, Lundgren hit Stallone, "so hard he almost stopped my heart." As a result, Stallone challenged his co-star:

  I told him, "Why don’t we just do it? Just try to knock me out. Really cut loose as hard as you can." That was a really stupid thing to say. Next thing I know, I’m on a low-altitude plane to the emergency room, and I’m in intensive care for four days.
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  (#2) He Was Voted 'Most Likely End Up In The Electric Chair'

  In the midst of his parents' troubled marriage, Sylvester Stallone spent his first five years living in foster homes in Hell's Kitchen. As a young boy, Stallone's distinct facial features resulted in bullying, prompting him to get into numerous fights. He was suspended often and had poor grades, eventually getting kicked out of several schools.

  A testament to his bad behavior, Stallone once said, "When I was in junior high school, the teachers voted me the student most likely to end up in the electric chair."

  After his parents divorced, Stallone moved to Philadelphia to live with his mother. There, he went to a school for troubled youth. Later, as a "straight-D student," his mother sent him to a private college in Switzerland. He studied drama before transferring to the University of Miami, where he focused on the dramatic arts and began writing.
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  (#3) He Took A Role In An Adult Film Out Of Desperation

  Stallone studied the dramatic arts at the University of Miami but never graduated, opting instead to return to New York to become an actor.

  Stallone continued to write, but he soon took a role in a softcore film called The Party at Kitty and Stud's - something he took because he was sleeping in the bus terminal at the New York City Port Authority. Stallone explained, "It was either do that movie or rob someone, because I was at the end - the very end - of my rope." 

  Stallone took small roles when he could get them but supplemented his income with odd jobs, including cleaning lions' cages at the Central Park Zoo. He was also fired from a movie usher position after he was caught scalping tickets.

  According to Stallone's site, he'd participated in thousands of casting calls by 1973. In 1974, Stallone got a role in The Lords of Flatbush, a job that earned him his first writing credit for providing some of the film's dialogue. 
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  (#4) He Once Tried To Break Up With A Longtime Girlfriend Via Fed Ex

  Sylvester Stallone has been married three times - first to Sasha Czack, then to Brigitte Nielsen, and, finally, to former model Jennifer Flavin. His relationship with Flavin began in 1989, but they took a break from each other in 1994. To end the relationship, Stallone sent a letter by Fed Ex to Flavin's home. According to Flavin, "He sent me a six-page handwritten letter," which she also called "pretty sloppy."

  Stallone was cheating on Flavin with fellow model, Janice Dickinson, something that shocked Flavin. She said, "It hit me like a ton of bricks...I had no idea this was going to happen. We talked about us having children, about when I was going to get pregnant. We were already picking names, marking down names that he liked and I liked.”

  The two reconciled a year later and wed in 1997. They remain together, with Stallone telling an interviewer in 2010, "I’ve never had more fun. I learnt that from my wife… It took me 19 years to realize she’s always right. I realized that women have a knack, at least Jennifer, for making incredibly erudite, wise, smart decisions." 
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  (#5) He Wrote The First Draft Of ’Rocky’ In Three Days

  After watching a boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner on March 24, 1975, Stallone had an idea for a screenplay. He was inspired by Wepner's efforts, the determined yet outmatched "Bayonne Bleeder" from New Jersey. Wepner went 15 rounds against Ali, the same number of rounds Rocky Balboa would later fight against Apollo Creed.

  Stallone spent three days writing the first draft of Rocky, taking few to no breaks. After he was done, he gave the 90-page script to his agent who shopped it out to producers. With several interested parties, Stallone - down to his last $100 - also insisted on starring in the film.

  As negotiations continued, the offer for the screenplay rose to as much as $400,000. However, Stallone accepted $25,000 for the screenplay and the role as the movie's namesake.
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  (#6) Charlie Chaplin And Elvis Presley Wanted To Hang Out With Him

  After the success of Rocky, Stallone was in high demand. He became one of three people to be be nominated for Best Actor and Best Screenplay at the Academy Awards - a distinction he shares with Orson Welles and Charlie Chaplin. Stallone recalled that Chaplin wrote him a letter after he lost the Best Actor award, telling him, "Rocky reminds me of a little character I used to play. We'd love for you to come to Switzerland and visit." But Chaplin passed before that visit could happen.

  Stallone indicated he never understood why Chaplin wrote him or why he received a similarly themed note from Frank Capra. Capra comforted Stallone after his loss, advising him to, "take heart, angels make note of things like that. Because it's fitting that the character you created, would lose, that other people would take all the glory." 

  Yet another celebrity contacted Stallone, this time by telephone. Elvis Presley called him and said, "I'd like to screen Rocky. We'll rent the theater in Memphis, and we'll watch the film." But Stallone was too shy to ever take Elvis up on his offer. 
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  (#7) He Had His Own Men’s Magazine Called ‘Sly’

  In 2004, Sylvester Stallone started his own magazine, appropriately named Sly. As a men's health and fitness publication, Sly targeted readers ages 35 to 54 and, according to publisher spokesperson, Stallone was going to "be actively involved in the editorial process every month."

  The first issues of Sly came out in 2005, but not without controversy. Sly had the same name as an internet magazine, a women's magazine focused on shoes, bags, and accessories. Judge Richard Casey called the site "a shoe fetish" publication when he ruled Sly could remain on newsstands. The online Sly parlayed into a $1 million lawsuit against the judge. 

  Unfortunately, the magazine had a very short, very limited run.
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  (#8) He Once Clashed With A Director Over The Color Of Boots

  In the aftermath of Judge Dredd, the 1995 release with minimal box-office success and comparable critical reviews, the movie's star and director took turns blaming each other for the failure. 

  Director Danny Cannon blamed Stallone for being difficult, claiming the two went around in circles for weeks about the boots the title character would wear, noting, "It’s tough. In the comic book he has green boots, Sly wanted green boots. Talking him out of that one was weeks," making the experience like ”putting your head down and slamming the brick wall.”

  Stallone defended himself, stating, "You have to bite the bullet sometimes...You see the film going in a certain direction that you don’t like, but you can’t sit there and completely impose yourself.”
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  (#9) He Kept - And Still Has - The Turtles From 'Rocky'

  Right before Rocky became such a success, Sylvester Stallone had to sell his dog, Butkus. He sold Butkus for $40, later repurchasing him with money he made from selling his screenplay. Stallone paid $15,000 to get his dog back - an amount that was, "worth every penny." 

  Butkus made his way onto the big screen, playing Rocky Balboa's dog, but the movie also featured two turtle companions. Named Cuff and Link, the turtles went home with Stallone after the first Rocky and he has continued to care for them.

  Both Cuff and Link appeared in Creed 2, 44 years after their onscreen debut. 
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  (#10) He Was Busted With 48 Vials Of Human Growth Hormone

  In 2007, Sylvester Stallone was found guilty of carrying 48 vials of human growth hormones (HGH) into Australia. The vials included both testosterone and Jintropin. 

  Jintropin, used by Stallone to give his "body a boost," is not approved for use in either the United States nor Australia. When caught with the substance, Stallone insisted it was for personal use. Authorities found Stallone to be contrite and, after a significant fine, decided there was nothing, "further the court could or should do in order to deter Mr. Stallone from committing these offenses again."

  In an interview the following year, Stallone addressed the charges, noting he, "put in years and years and years of hard labor to stay in shape... The most important thing about HGH - and I think more people should be aware of this - is it really takes off the wear and tear that your body takes. The power to recuperate is very, very limited. So all it does is expedite." He cautioned, however, that it wasn't the path to fitness and health. "If that were the case," he said, "everyone would be a superhuman."
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  (#11) He Almost Directed And Starred In ‘The Godfather Part III’

  In the '70s, Sylvester Stallone auditioned for a part in The Godfather, but he was unable to nab a part in the epic. Stallone was devastated but did well for himself with the success of the Rocky movies, among other films like 1982's First Blood. In addition to writing and starring in his movies, Stallone had started directing, taking the helm for Rocky II (1979) and Rocky III (1982). He also directed (and had a cameo in) Stayin' Alive (1983), the sequel to Saturday Night Fever starring John Travolta.

  By 1983, Stallone was on the short-list to direct the third Godfather movie. He was also in talks to act in the film, although he didn't think he would be the star. Rather, he'd co-star with Travolta, who was also put for part in the epic.

  In the end, the deal fell through and Stallone was neither in the movie nor did he have anything to do with the film's direction.
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  (#12) He Took On Fellow Tough Guy Bruce Willis, Who He Called 'Greedy And Lazy'

  In 2013, as Sylvester Stallone looked to bring back the cast of the first two Expendable movies for a third, he struggled to get Bruce Willis to sign on. Willis was said to have asked for $4 million to shoot for four days in Bulgaria, something that prompted Stallone to dismiss the actor and replace him with Harrison Ford.

  Stallone posted on Twitter, "WILLIS OUT... HARRISON FORD IN !!!! GREAT NEWS !!!!! Been waiting years for this!!!!"

  In a later Tweet, Stallone wrote, "GREEDY AND LAZY ...... A SURE FORMULA FOR CAREER FAILURE," a statement that his representatives later affirmed were made about Willis. 

  In 2014, the two seemed to have made amends, with Stallone tweeting, "Made up with BRUCE W. A stand up guy, my mistake...."
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  (#13) He Fought A Major Studio For Shady Accounting On ‘Demolition Man’

  In 2017, Sylvester Stallone filed a lawsuit against Warner Bros. for fraud related to profits from the 1993 film Demolition Man. The claim asserts that Stallone, as per his contract, was supposed to earn an increasing percentage of the film's profit over time, due 15% once the movie grossed $125 million. Stallone claims he received no profit from the movie until 2015 when he got a check for $2.8 million. 

  According to Stallone's lawsuit, Warner Bros. stopped paying his participation profits in 1997 and only began to make payments in 2014. Alongside this lawsuit, Stallone asserted Warner Bros.'s business tactics were "unscrupulous, unethical and offensive, and causes substantial injury to consumers" and "threatens or harms competition because other studios." As a result, the entirety of Warner Bros.'s accounting practice was placed under scrutiny. 

  The lawsuit was settled "amicably" in May 2019, but no details were provided about the agreement.
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  (#14) His Famous Smile And Pattern Of Speech Is The Result Of Nerve Damage

  Born on July 6, 1946, Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone - who later decided to go by Sylvester Enzio Stallone - faced adversity from the day he was born.

  When his mother, Jackie, went into labor (by at least one account, on the steps of a medical school), the doctors that delivered Stallone misused the forceps and damaged the infant's head. In doing so, they severed the seventh cranial nerve. 

  As a result, Stallone experienced paralysis on the left side of his face throughout his entire life, giving him his characteristic snarling smile and slurred speech pattern. 

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