From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, Stallone would go on to become one of Hollywood's highest-paid actors acting in action films such as Cobra (1986), Tango and Cash (1989), Cliffhanger (1993), Demolition Man (1993), and The Specialist (1994).

[4] 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 the mercenary Barney Ross.

[13] His mother was an American from Washington, D.C., with Breton French[14] and Ukrainian Jewish ancestry,[15][16][17] while his father was an Italian immigrant from Gioia del Colle[13] who moved to the U.S. in the 1930s.

[21][22] This caused paralysis of the lower left side of his face (including parts of his lip, tongue, and chin) which gave him his signature snarling look and slurred speech.

[32] Decades later, after Stallone's request that his acting and life experiences be accepted in exchange for his remaining needed college credits to graduate, he was granted a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree by the University of Miami in 1998.

[41] After moving to New York City, Stallone shared an apartment with his girlfriend, Sasha Czack, an aspiring actress who supported them by working as a waitress.

[46] Stallone, around mid-1973, achieved his first proper starring role, in the independent film No Place to Hide, playing a man who is associated with a New York–based urban terrorist movement, with a jewelry-seller as his love interest.

Stallone made his directorial debut and starred in the 1978 film Paradise Alley, a family drama in which he played one of three brothers who get involved in professional wrestling.

That same year, he starred in Norman Jewison's F.I.S.T., a social drama in which he plays a warehouse worker, very loosely modeled on James Hoffa, who becomes involved in labor union leadership.

[63] In 1987, he starred in the family drama Over the Top as a struggling trucker who tries to make amends with his estranged son and enters an arm wrestling competition.

His boxing promoting company, Tiger Eye Productions, signed world champion boxers Sean O'Grady and Aaron Pryor.

[71] Later that year, he starred in the futuristic action film Demolition Man directed by Marco Brambilla, co-starring Wesley Snipes and Sandra Bullock.

The site's consensus reads: "A better-than-average sci-fi shoot-em-up with a satirical undercurrent, Demolition Man is bolstered by strong performances by Stallone, Snipes, and Bullock.

At one point, Stallone starts yelling about how can they use his Balboa character, that he left it in the past; the narrator calms him with a wine cooler and calling him "brainiac."

"[83] In 1996, he starred in the disaster film Daylight as a disgraced former emergency services chief who attempts to rescue survivors of an underground tunnel explosion.

[84] In 1997, Stallone was cast against type as an overweight sheriff in the crime drama Cop Land in which he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Ray Liotta.

Also that year, Stallone started to regain prominence for his supporting role in the neo-noir crime drama Shade which was only released in a limited fashion but was praised by critics.

[88] In August, Stallone released his book Sly Moves which claimed to be a guide to fitness and nutrition as well as a candid insight into his life and works from his own perspective.

In 2013, Stallone starred in the action film Bullet to the Head, directed by Walter Hill, based upon Alexis Nolent's French graphic novel Du Plomb Dans La Tete.

[102] Also in 2013, he starred in the action thriller Escape Plan, along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jim Caviezel, and in the sports comedy drama Grudge Match alongside Robert De Niro, harkening back to the Rocky franchise.

Upon wrapping production, he announced via his social media page that work on the third movie titled Escape Plan: The Extractors, began immediately thereafter.

[107] In July, Stallone announced that he had finished a script for a sequel to Creed, with a plot including the return of Ivan Drago from Rocky IV.

The story centers around Nathaniel Hunter, a professional tracker who is hired to hunt a half-human beast created as an experiment of a secret agency.

[133] Stallone has continued to express his passion in directing a film based on Edgar Allan Poe's life, a script he has been preparing for years.

For Rhinestone (1984), Stallone sang such songs as "Drinkenstein" as well as duets with his co-star, and actual country music star, Dolly Parton.

[148] Stallone maintains a relationship with his brother Frank who contributed the theme songs to Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Staying Alive.

"[152][153] While filming a fight scene with "Stone Cold" Steve Austin for The Expendables, he broke his neck and required the insertion of a metal plate.

[159] In 2013, it was reported that Stallone paid a $2 million lump-sum settlement alongside a monthly amount and a trust for psychiatric and medical expenses to his half-sister Toni-Ann Filiti in 1987.

[166] In June 2018, the Los Angeles District Attorney's office confirmed an investigation, stating that the Santa Monica Police Department had presented a sex crimes case against Stallone to a special prosecution task force for review.

In 2015, upon the advice of a Vedic scholar, Stallone performed a Hindu Tithi Shradh ritual (done for those who died by accident or murder) at Haridwar for his son Sage.