All About Sylvester Stallone’s Late Father, Frank Stallone Sr.

Sylvester Stallone comes from a family that does not shy away from the camera — his mother was the famous astrologer Jackie Stallone, and his father was Frank Stallone Sr., a hairdresser who was involved in creativity such as writing and acting.

After immigrating to the United States from Italy as a teenager, Frank Sr. led a colorful life, opening and managing a group of hair salons, and was an avid polo enthusiast who played matches near landmarks such as the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial, according to The Washington Post.

In fact, polo was one of the ways that Sylvester and Frank Sr. became closer as they were both dedicated players. In 1990, they participated in an exhibition match that Frank Sr. called “the thrill of my life,” according to The Washington Post.

In addition to Sylvester, Frank Sr. and Jackie had another son, Frank Jr. The two divorced in 1957, and Frank Sr. married three times and fathered three more children until his death on July 11, 2011. He was 91 years old.

Here’s everything you need to know about Sylvester Stallone’s dad, Frank Stallone Sr., and his relationship with the actor.

He was born in Italy in 1919

Frank Stallone Sr. and Frank Stallone Jr. in Sicily.

Frank Stallone’s Instagram

Frank Sr. was born on September 12, 1919 in Gioia del Colle, Italy. As a teenager, he was a shepherd and rode horses before immigrating to America in the early 1930s at the age of 13, he reported The Washington Post.

While living in New York, Frank Sr. worked as a cobbler and lent his expertise to the Diamond Horseshoe nightclub, where he repaired heels for dancers. There he met his future wife Jackie, who would later become a famous astrologer and psychic in Los Angeles and a manager The beautiful ladies of wrestling (SHINE) in the 1980s.

He married four times and had five children

Frank Stallone Sr., Frank Stallone Jr. and Sylvester Stallone.

MediaPunch Inc / Alamy

Frank Sr. married Jackie (née Labofish) in 1945, and shortly thereafter the couple began to expand their family. The husband and wife welcomed their first child together, Sylvester, on July 6, 1946. Their second son, Frank Jr., was born on July 30, 1950, before Frank and Jackie divorced in 1957.

Frank Sr. then married Rose Marie, and the couple had two children: a son, Bryan, and a daughter, Carla Francesco. After Frank Sr. and Rose Marie divorced, he married Sandra, although they were not happy to have children.

After their split, Frank Sr. exchanged wedding vows with Kathleen Rhodes in 1997, to whom he remained married until his death. The couple had a son, Dante Alexander Stallone, born on January 17, 1997.

He was a successful hairdresser

Frank Stallone Sr.

Frank Stallone’s Instagram

According to his obituary in Washington Post, Frank Sr. attended hairdressing school in Hell’s Kitchen, New York In the 1950s he moved to the Washington DC area and eventually opened a chain of salons and beauty schools in Silver Spring, Maryland.

Two of his children are Hollywood stars

Sylvester Stallone and Frank Stallone Jr. at the Los Angeles premiere of “The Expendables 3” in August 2014 in Hollywood, California.

Jon Kopaloff/FilmMagic

Sylvester became an Oscar-winning actor and director, and Frank Jr. appeared in more than 80 films and wrote music for others.

While trying to break into Hollywood, Sylvester was inspired to write his 1976 sports drama Rocky after watching the match between the boxers Muhammad Ali and Chuck Wepner. After being accepted for production, Sylvester’s script was brought to life with him as the lead character.

During the casting process, Sylvester chose his brother Frank Jr. to play a teenager singing in the street — a collaboration that came about because of the latter’s musical prowess.

“I was in a group called Valentine and … we had a pretty successful gig in Jersey,” Frank Jr. said. to Fox News in 2021. “Then my brother called me and said, ‘I’m making a movie about boxing. I want to write a score for it?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s not really my expertise, writing music for a boxing movie.’ But I said fine.”

“Then he says, ‘I want you to recreate something you did when you were a kid singing on the street corner doing doo-wop,'” he added.

Since then, the brothers have collaborated on nine films, incl Rocky continuations and Stay alive.

He appeared in Rocky

Frank Jr. he wasn’t the only Stallone to appear in Sylvester’s first Hollywood film. Sylvester also gave his father a small role as a timekeeper.

Patriarch Stallone later appeared in a 1992 episode of the series The fifth corner and a documentary from 2015. Flag.

He was a passionate lover of polo

Sylvester Stallone with a horse.

Sylvester Stallone’s Instagram

Frank Sr. was one of the first members of the Potomac Polo Club in Poolesville, Maryland, after it was founded in 1957. The Washington Post. He has been involved in this sport for decades and passed his sports passion on to Sylvester. Frank Sr. also owned a farm in Potomac, and Sylvester grew up riding.

The father-son duo competed in a celebrity exhibition polo match on opposing teams in 1990 at the Palm Beach Polo and Country Club in Florida. In the end, it was a win-win situation: Frank Sr.’s team won, and Sylvester was named MVP after two goals.

His enthusiasm for the sport continued into his later years when he moved to Wellington, Florida in the mid-1990s.

“He was in the best shape of a 90-year-old,” said Scott Swerdlin, president of Palm Beach Equine Clinic in Wellington. The Palm Beach Post 2011. “He was a very kind gentleman. A lot of fun. He enjoyed his wife, he enjoyed his family. He loved watching polo.”

He wrote a novel

Frank Stallone Sr. with sons Sylvester Stallone and Frank Stallone Jr. and nephew Mark.

Frank Stallone’s Instagram

In 2010, at the age of 90, Frank Sr. announced Stewart Lane, a novel about a wealthy couple from Washington DC who move to the countryside and encounter unexpected challenges as they try to start over.

Singer Connie Francis’ cover blurb reads: “Sharp writing and earthy characters make this a memorable read.”

He died in 2011

Frank Stallone Sr. and Frank Stallone Jr.

Frank Stallone’s Instagram

Frank Sr. died on July 11, 2011 of prostate cancer at the age of 91. Patriarch Stallone was widely covered in newspapers in Washington, Palm Beach and Philadelphia.

“He was a tireless worker, self-motivated” and “a fearless man who didn’t give up on anyone,” Frank Jr. said. Philadelphia Inquirer in 2011

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