Sylvester Enzio Stallone (/stəˈloʊn/; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, July 6, 1946) is an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter.[1] After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, he won his first critical acclaim as an actor for his co-starring role as Stanley Rosiello in The Lords of Flatbush. Stallone subsequently found gradual work as an extra or side character in films with a sizeable budget until he achieved his greatest critical and commercial success as an actor, starting in 1976 with his self-created role as the boxer Rocky Balboa, in the first film of the successful Rocky series (1976-2018). In the films, Rocky is portrayed as an underdog boxer that fights numerous brutal opponents, and wins the world heavyweight championship twice.