Stallone continued his established roles in Rocky Balboa (2006) and Rambo (2008) before launching the Expendables film franchise (2010–present), in which he starred as mercenary Barney Ross. In 2013, he starred in the hit film Escape Plan and appeared in its sequels. In 2015, he returned to Rocky with Creed, in which a retired Rocky mentors Donnie Creed, the son of former rival Apollo Creed. The film earned Stallone much acclaim and his first Golden Globe Award, as well as a third Academy Award nomination, having first been nominated for the same role 40 years earlier. Since 2022, he has starred in the Paramount+ crime series Tulsa King. Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone[5][6][7] was born in the Hell’s Kitchen neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City,[8] on July 6, 1946,[9] the eldest son of professional wrestling promoter Jacqueline “Jackie” Stallone (née Labofish; 1921–2020) and hairdresser Francesco “Frank” Stallone Sr. (1919–2011).

His mother was an American from Washington, D.C., of French Breton[11] and Ukrainian Jewish ancestry, while his father was an Italian immigrant from Gioia del Colle[10] who moved to the United States in the 1930s.[15][16] His younger brother is actor and musician Frank Stallone.[10] Many biographies of Stallone indicate his birth name as “Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone”, and his mother explained in an interview that she originally named him “Tyrone” because she admired actor Tyrone Power, but Stallone’s father changed it to “Sylvester”. His nickname as a child was “Binky”, but he chose the nickname Mike/Michael after schoolmates began calling him “Stinky”.[5][6][7] His middle name “Gardenzio” is an alteration of the Italian name “Gaudenzio”, and he often shortened it to “Enzio”.

Complications during Stallone’s birth forced his mother’s obstetricians to use two pairs of forceps during the delivery, accidentally severing a nerve in the process.[17][18] This caused paralysis of the lower left side of his face (including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin), which gave him his characteristic snarling gaze and slurred speech.[18][19] As a result, he was bullied as a child, which he dealt with by getting into bodybuilding and acting.[20] He spent part of his childhood in foster homes and boarding schools, returning and moving back with his family to Maryland when he was five years old. In the early 1950s, his father moved the family to Washington, D.C., his mother’s hometown, to open a beauty school. In 1954, his mother opened a women’s gym called Barbella’s. He initially stayed with his father after his parents divorced when he was 11, but joined his mother, who had remarried, in Philadelphia when he was 15.