Sylvester Stallone was born on July 6th, 1946 in New York City. During his birth, a facial nerve on the left side of his face had been shattered leaving part of his mouth area paralyzed.

Although this was devastating and would leave him with slurred speech for the rest of his life, he wasn't going to let this determine how successful he would be.

Along with his slurred speech, Sylvester had a rough childhood. His parents got divorced and Stallone spent some of his earliest years in the foster care system without parents.

Stallone's early struggles continued when he moved to Washington D.C with his father. He was emotionally and academically challenged and was kicked out of multiple schools at a young age.

Although his childhood was tough, Sylvester was not a weak-minded person and because he was so strong was why he became successful.

After moving to Philadelphia to live with his mom, he graduated high school and went to study Drama at American college in Switzerland and then to the University of Miami to study dramatic arts.

Once he finished college and got his degree he decided to move back to New York City and pursue an acting career, despite his childhood struggles.

Stallone was a dedicated actor and also was very interested in being a writer, he had big dreams but at the start of his career things looked bleak.

He spent his early years in the acting industry working at zoos, movie theaters, and other small jobs just to keep a stable income.

Sylvester played a few small roles as an up and coming actor in some successful movies but still was barely making enough money to survive.

During this time in New York Stallone also married his wife, Sasha. They stuck together and believed in his dream while living together with their dog, Butkus.

Stallone was unhappy with how things were going in New York so he moved to Los Angeles to try and continue his writing and acting career in a different part of the country

Sylvester was still going along barely making a living when he went and saw a life-changing boxing match right in front of him between Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner.

Stallone went to the fight not expecting much as it was the greatest fighter in the world boxing against an amateur, no-name fighter. But what he saw was much different. 

In a million to one shot, Chuck Wepner defied the odds and lasted a whole 15 rounds in the ring with Ali. Stallone watched the fight and didn't realize that it would completely change his life.

After seeing the boxing match, it gave Stallone inspiration as a screenwriter. He based his new script on the underdog story he witnessed in the boxing match.

While still living in a small apartment in Hollywood, Stallone, who was a very hard worker wrote his entire script for his new movie in an incredible 3 days.