The character arc of Sylvester Stallone
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born on 6 July 1946 in New York City. Between then and now sit two pairs of forceps that severed a nerve and paralysed part of his face, a childhood of being bullied for it, a guidance counsellor who told his mother he was suited to running a sorting machine, years of struggling in New York, an eviction and three weeks sleeping in a bus terminal, a heavyweight fight watched in March 1975, a first draft written in three days, a refusal to sell the script unless he starred, two Academy Award nominations in one year, six decades of number one films, and an Oscar nomination for the same character forty years apart. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Sylvester Stallone?
They offered him the money. He said only if I play him.
Two pairs of forceps were used at his birth and a nerve was severed, paralysing the lower left side of his face, including parts of his lip, tongue and chin. That is where the snarl and the slurred speech come from. He was bullied for it as a child and dealt with it by taking up bodybuilding and acting. A guidance counsellor told his mother her son was suited to running a sorting machine, or being an assistant electrician, primarily in the area of elevator operations. He wanted to be an actor and a screenwriter.
It went badly for a long time. He moved to New York in 1969 and found little work. At the very bottom he was evicted, was homeless for several days, and slept three weeks in the Port Authority Bus Terminal. From there he answered a casting notice for an adult film and was paid two hundred dollars for two days. In his own words, it was either do that film or rob someone, because he was at the end, the very end, of his rope.
On 24 March 1975 he watched Muhammad Ali fight Chuck Wepner. He went home and three days later he had finished the first draft of Rocky. Producers offered him 350,000 dollars for the script, with Robert Redford and Burt Reynolds among their ideas for the lead. He refused to sell unless he played the part himself. They eventually agreed, on a substantially cut budget.
It worked. Rocky made him famous worldwide, and in 1977 he became the third person in history, after Chaplin and Orson Welles, to be nominated for Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for the same film. He wrote and starred in all six Rocky films and directed four of the sequels, played John Rambo across five films he also co-wrote, and through the 1980s and 1990s was one of the highest paid actors in the business.
The last stretch is the one that vindicates the first. He launched The Expendables in 2010, writing most of them, and in 2015 returned to Rocky in Creed, this time as an old man training the son of his first opponent. It brought him his first Golden Globe and a third Academy Award nomination, for the same character he had first been nominated for forty years earlier. His films have grossed over 7.5 billion dollars, and he is one of only two actors ever to have starred in a number one film in six consecutive decades.
The moments
Sylvester Stallone's timeline.
The 1940s
Forceps at birth
Setback, and it changed everything. The face everybody knows was an accident in a delivery room.
The 1950s
Bullied for his face
Setback, and it changed everything. He answered it with weights and with acting.
The 1960s
A counsellor writes him off
Setback, and it changed everything. They told his mother to aim at lifts.
New York, and nothing
Setback, and it changed his direction. Five years of almost nothing.
The 1970s
The end of his rope
Setback, and it changed everything. Three weeks in a bus station, and then a two hundred dollar job.
He watches a fight
Milestone, and it changed everything. One night in front of a television.
Rocky, in three days
Milestone, and it changed everything. Three days, and the rest of his life was in it.
He refuses the money
Milestone, and it changed everything. He turned down the money because the part was the point.
Take the 350,000, or hold out
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: refuse unless he stars, taken, or sell the script. They agreed on a cut budget, the film made him famous worldwide, and he was nominated for two Oscars for it.
Rocky
Milestone, and it changed everything. Worldwide, overnight, in a film he wrote himself.
Two nominations at once
Milestone, and it changed everything. Third person ever to do it.
The 1980s
First Blood
Milestone, and it changed everything. A second character that outlived the decade.
The 1990s
The highest paid years
Milestone, and it changed his direction. A decade at the very top of the business.
The 2010s
The Expendables
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He built himself a third franchise, at sixty four.
Creed, forty years later
Milestone, and it changed everything. Nominated twice for the same character, forty years apart.
The 2020s
Six decades at number one
Milestone, and it changed everything. Six decades of number ones, which almost nobody has.
He is still writing, still directing, still turning up in the franchises he built. What he set moving was one refusal made from the worst possible bargaining position, by a man who had been told at school to consider operating a lift, and who understood that the money was not the thing he wanted.
Your turn
Every line draws a unique story.
His turned on saying no to 350,000 dollars when he had nothing, because the part was the whole point. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Sylvester Stallone: frequently asked questions
What people ask about his line.
What is Sylvester Stallone's character arc?
Why does Sylvester Stallone speak like that?
How did Sylvester Stallone write Rocky?
Why did Sylvester Stallone refuse to sell Rocky?
How many Oscar nominations does Sylvester Stallone have?
What was the lowest point for Sylvester Stallone?
Where does this timeline of Sylvester Stallone's life come from?
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Sources
- Sylvester Stallone, English Wikipedia biography, filed under living people.
- His own accounts of the bus terminal and the script negotiation, as quoted there.
- His award record and box office figures, as cited there.
- Roger Ebert review of Rocky, as quoted there.