Early Life Stallone was born in New York City, the son of Frank Stallone, Sr., a hairdresser, and Jackie Stallone, an astrologer, former dancer and promoter of women's wrestling. Doctors used forceps during his birth that severed a nerve and caused paralysis in parts of Stallone's face, resulting in his signature slurred speech and drooping lower lip.
Stallone's grandfather, Silvestro Stallone, was an immigrant from Gioia del Colle, in the province of Bari (Apulia, Italy). Stallone's mother was born in Washington, DC, the daughter of a Parisian socialite.
Between the ages of two and five Stallone was boarded in Queens, seeing his parents only on weekends. In 1951 he returned to live with his parents in Maryland where they operated a chain of beauty salons. In 1961 he was enrolled in Devereaux Manor, a private school for problem children located in Berwyn Pennsylvania and following graduation enrolled in a beauty school.
In the 1960s, Stallone dropped out of the beauty school after winning a scholarship for the American College of Switzerland in Leysin where he studied drama and was well received in school productions. Returning to America he enrolled in the Theater Arts Department at Univerity of Miami for three years. He came within a few credit hours of graduation before he decided to drop out and pursue a career writing screenplays under the pseudonyms Q. Moonblood and J.J. Deadlock while at the same time taking bit parts in movies.
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