Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone (born July 6, 1946)[4] is an American actor, film director, screenwriter, producer, and playwright. He is well known for his Hollywood action roles, including boxer Rocky Balboa in the Rocky series (1976–2018), soldier John Rambo in the five Rambo films (1982–2019), and mercenary Barney Ross in the three The Expendables films (2010–2014). He wrote or cowrote most of the 14 films in all three franchises, and directed many of them.