Trivia: An icon of machismo and Hollywood action heroism, Sylvester Stallone is responsible for creating two characters who have become a part of the American cultural lexicon: Rocky Balboa, the no-name boxer who overcame all odds to become a champion, and John Rambo, the courageous soldier who specialized in violent rescues and revenge. Both characters are reflections of Stallone's personal experiences and the battles he waged during his transition from a poor kid in Hell's Kitchen to one of the world's most popular stars. According to Stallone, his was not a happy childhood. On July 6, 1946, in the aforementioned part of Manhattan, Sylvester Enzio Stallone was born to a chorine and an Italian immigrant. A forceps accident during his birth severed a facial nerve, leaving Stallone with parts of his lip, tongue, and chin paralyzed. In doing so, the accident imprinted Stallone with some of the most recognizable components of his persona: the distinctively slurred (and some say often nearly incomprehensible) speech patterns, drooping lower lip, and crooked left eye that have been eagerly seized upon by caricaturists. To compound these defects, Stallone was a homely, sickly child who once suffered from rickets. His parents were constantly at war and struggling to support Stallone and his younger brother, Frank Stallone (who became a B-movie actor). The elder brother spent most of his first five years in the care of foster homes. Stallone has said that his interest in acting came from his attempts to get attention and affection from those strangers who tried to raise him. When he was five, his parents moved their family to Silver Spring, MD, but once again spent their time bickering and largely ignored their children. Following his parents' divorce in 1957, the 11-year-old Stallone remained with his stern father. The actor's teen years proved even more traumatic. As Stallone seemed willing to do just about anything for attention, however negative, he had already been enrolled in 12 schools and expelled several times for his behavior problems. His grades were dreadful and his classmates picked on him for being different. Stallone coped by becoming a risk taker and developing elaborate fantasies in which he presented himself as a brave hero and champion of the underdog. At age 15, Stallone moved to Philadelphia to be with his mother and her new husband. By this time, he had begun lifting weights and took up fencing, football, and the discus. He also started appearing in school plays. Following graduation, Stallone received an athletic scholarship for the American College of Switzerland. While there he was a girls' athletic coach and in his spare time starred in a school production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. The experience inspired him to become an actor and after returning stateside, he started studying drama at the University of Miami until he decided to move to New York in 1969. While working a variety of odd jobs, Stallone auditioned frequently but only occasionally found stage work, most of which was off-Broadway in shows like the all-nude Score and Rain. He even resorted to appearing in the softcore porn film, Party at Kitty's and Studs, which was later repackaged as The Italian Stallion after Stallone became famous. Stallone's face and even his deep voice were factors in his constant rejection for stage and film roles. He did nab a bit role in Woody Allen's Bananas (1971), but after he was turned down for The Godfather (1971), Stallone became discouraged. Rather than give up, however, Stallone again developed a coping mechanism -- he turned to writing scripts, lots of scripts, some of which were produced. He still auditioned and landed a starring role in Rebel (1973). During his writing phase, he married actress Sasha Czack in late 1974 and they moved to California in the hopes of building acting careers. His first minor success came when he wrote the screenplay for and co-starred in the nostalgic Lords of Flatbush (1974) with Henry Winkler. The film's modest success resulted in Stallone's getting larger roles, but he still didn't attract much notice until he penned the screenplay for Rocky. The story was strong and well written and studios were eager to buy the rights, but Stallone stipulated that he would be the star and must receive a share of the profits. Producers Irwin Winkler and Robert Chartoff accepted Stallone's terms and Rocky (1976) went on to become one of the biggest movie hits of all time. It also won several Oscars including ones for Best Picture, Best Director for John Avildsen, and a Best Actor nomination for Stallone. Suddenly Stallone found himself on Hollywood's A-list, a status he has largely maintained over the years. In addition to writing four sequels to Rocky, he penned three Rambo films (First Blood, Rambo: First Blood Part II, and Rambo 3) and F.I.S.T. (1979). Stallone made his directorial debut with Paradise Alley, which he filmed in Hell's Kitchen. He also wrote and directed but did not appear in the sequel to Saturday Night Fever, Staying Alive (1983). In addition, Stallone has continued to appear in the films of other directors, notably Demolition Man (1993), Judge Dredd (1995), and Copland (1997), a film in which he allowed himself to gain 30 pounds in order to more accurately portray an aging sheriff. Occasionally, Stallone has ventured out of the action genre and into lighter fare with such embarrassing efforts as Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992) and Oscar (1991), which did not fare well at the box office. Following these missteps, Stallone found greater success with the animated adventure Antz (1998), a film in which his very distinctive voice, if not his very distinctive physique, was very much a part. Stallone was back in shape for the 2000 remake of Get Carter and hit the race tracks in the following year in the CART racing thriller Driven. Though the early 2000s found his career sputtering along with such forgettable duds as D-Tox and Avenging Angelo, Stallone took his career into his own hands by returning to the director's chair to resurrect two of his most iconic characters. Lacing his boxing gloves up once again for Rocky Balboa, the veteran action star proved he still had some fight left in him, and venturing into the jungles of Burma as John Rambo just two years later, he proved that hard "R" action could still sell in the era where most filmmakers were playing it "PG-13"safe. That trend continued with Stallone's all-star action opus The Expendables in 2010, with the success of that film leading to a sequel (with Simon West taking over directorial duties) featuring even more action icons in 2012. Incredibly, not even a broken neck suffered during production of The Expendables proved capable of slowing Stallone down, and 2013 found him teaming with Walter Hill for Bullet to the Head -- which followed a cop and a killer as they teamed up to take down a mutual enemy. In 2015, Stallone returned to Rocky Balboa once more, but this time as a supporting character in the spin-off film Creed. He earned rave reviews and an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor, making him only the sixth performer to be nominated for playing the same character in two separate films.

Trivia: A former prizefighter, Burt Young opted for a less injurious profession when he began taking acting lessons from Lee Strasberg. In films from 1971, Young reached a career pinnacle as Rocky Balboa's (Sylvester Stallone) contentious brother Paulie in the 1975 megahit Rocky. He earned one of the film's ten Oscar nominations, and went on to reprise the role in all four Rocky sequels. Young's subsequent film and TV work has been largely confined to pug-like supporting roles, though he did star in the 1978 TV movie Uncle Joe Shannon, which he also scripted. Additional Burt Young credits include the Broadway play Cuba and His Teddy Bear and the role of ex-marine collegiate Nick Chase in the TV sitcom Roomies (1987).

Trivia: Born July 8th, 1977, by the time Milo Ventimiglia graduated from high school in 1994, the bright lights of Hollywood had already shone their way to his Orange County home, and within the next year, the young actor was making his first onscreen appearance with a walk-on role on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. The part was the first of many, as Ventimiglia proceeded to spend the late '90s and early 2000s with similar roles in movies like She's All That and on shows like CSI. In 2004, Ventimiglia nabbed what most actors would consider a big break when he landed a recurring role on the hit series American Dreams, but a much bigger break was still in store. He joined the regular cast of the WB series Gilmore Girls in 2005, playing the part of Jess Mariano and making millions of viewers familiar with his face. The boost to his star-power no doubt influenced casting directors, who cast him as the son of Sylvester Stallone in 2006's Rocky Balboa, and then as a young man who discovers he harbors superpowers on the smash-hit sci-fi series Heroes. Ventimiglia appeared in the sci-fi action thriller Gamer in 2009, and took on a supporting role in the 2012 Adam Sandler vehicle That's My Boy.

Trivia: A distinguished Irish actress whose unique look and presence instantly revealed her ethnic origins, redhead performer Geraldine Hughes began life in West Belfast in 1970 and grew up in a working-class family in the city's Divis Flats. Hughes experienced her first brush with show business after penning a one-woman stage show, Belfast Blues, where she distilled many of her coming-of-age experiences into two hours. Via the magic of costume changes, she also unveiled her versatility by playing all of the 24 roles at hand. That noble accomplishment happened to catch the eye of a Hollywood casting agent, Sheila Jaffe, who recommended Hughes to Sylvester Stallone for a turn as Marie, Rocky Balboa's longtime friend and potential paramour, in Rocky Balboa (2006), the sixth installment of the Rocky film series; after watching Hughes' audition tape, Stallone instantly hired her. Though Balboa did not represent the thespian's premier stage assignment (prior to it, she had done guest work on the series ER and landed a bit part as a secretary in the 2003 Ben Stiller comedy Duplex), it afforded some of her broadest audience exposure to date, and as a follow-up she teamed with Clint Eastwood for a small role in the racially themed drama Gran Torino (2008).

Trivia: A heavyweight champion of the world for three and a half years (November 1986-February 1990), boxer Mike Tyson also earned a historical footnote as the youngest individual ever to win, and lose, the said title in his chosen sport. Both during and after his heavyweight tenure in the ring, Tyson also courted an overwhelming amount of controversy for his reported anti-social behavior, which included raping a beauty pageant contestant in an Indianapolis hotel room (an act for which he received six years in prison, later commuted to three) and biting off a piece of fighter Evander Holyfield's ear, mid-fight (an act that DQ'd him from that particular match and sent the media into a tailspin). For the most part, Tyson spent his early years on-camera in projects exclusively related to boxing, but following his release from prison, he became acquainted with director James Toback (Fingers), and that marked the beginning of a long friendship that witnessed the men frequently working together. Their collaborations commenced with the improvisational, racially themed 1998 drama Black on White (in which Tyson makes an extended cameo and receives a very blatant pass from a gay character played by Robert Downey, Jr.), the erotic drama When Will I Be Loved? (2004), and, ultimately, the documentary portrait Tyson (2008), which Toback put together from over 30 hours of interviews with the then-retired boxer. Aside from the Toback projects, Tyson's résumé also includes small roles in the 2000 boxing comedy Play It to the Bone and the 2006 boxing drama Rocky Balboa.

Trivia: Talia Shire (born Talia Coppola) attended the Yale School of Drama and landed roles in several Roger Corman films. The sister of filmmaker Francis Ford Coppola, she benefited from her family connection when she was cast in The Godfather (1972), launching her screen career in earnest. After receiving a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination for her performance in The Godfather Part II (1974), Shire was cast by Sylvester Stallone to play his girlfriend in the hit Rocky (1976), for which she won the New York Film Critics Award and received a Best Actress Oscar nomination. Although Shire went on to appear in a number of films throughout the 1980s and '90s, her career primarily revolved around the eight films emerging from the original Godfather and Rocky movies. Divorced from composer David Shire, she later married producer Jack Schwartzman; the two of them developed movie projects together, forming the TaliaFilm production company. The mother of actors Jason Schwartzman and Robert Schwartzman, Shire directed the film One Night Stand in 1994.She continued to act in a number of films including The Landlady, Lured Innocence, and Kiss the Bride. In 2004 she was cast in I Heart Huckabees playing the mother of the character portrayed by her real life son Jason Schwartzman. She appeared thanks to archival footage in Rocky Balboa. She also appeared in a pair of National Lampoon comedies.

Trivia: Made his feature film debut in the 1987 film Barfly, starring Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke.Played Ashtray's Father in the 1996 Wayans Brothers-produced parody Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood.First writing credit was on the 2004 comedy Tha' Crib.Lent his voice to the video games Spider-Man 3 and Crysis.Co-executive produced the audio scripted drama series, Bronzeville, on which he is also a cast member.

Trivia: Earned a variety of awards while working as a sports columnist for The Miami Herald, Los Angeles Times, The Dallas Morning News, Dallas Times Herald, Chicago Tribune and San Jose Mercury News. Parlayed his long-time access to the Dallas Cowboys into a trilogy of books about the team, including God's Coach: The Hymns, Hype and Hypocrisy of Tom Landry's Cowboys; The Boys: Jones vs. Johnson - The Feud That Rocked America's Team; and Hell-Bent: The Crazy Truth About the "Win or Else" Dallas Cowboys. Added radio and television to his repertoire in the 1990s, helping to launch the all-sports 1310 "The Ticket" in Dallas, while also appearing often on The Jim Rome Show, The Sports Reporters, NFL Prime Monday, Jim Rome is Burning and Golf Channel. Established a daily sports-commentary role on ESPN First Take (formerly Cold Pizza) in 2004, eventually dropping his columnist role on espn.com to focus on the show's "1st & 10" segment. Appeared in the 2006 film Rocky Balboa along with fellow ESPN commentator Woody Paige. Bayless played himself, mocking Balboa's participation in an upcoming fight. Inducted---as part of the inaugural class---into the Vanderbilt Student Media Hall of Fame in 2009. Bayless attended the prestigious school on a Fred Russell-Grantland Rice Sports Writing Scholarship.

Trivia: Did sports-reporting stints at TV stations in Hazard, KY, and Hartford, CT, before working as sports director in Columbus, OH, and Tampa, FL. Hired in 2003 to work for ESPN on Cold Pizza, which became First Take. Made three appearances as a pitcher in independent minor league baseball games in 2005. Has one blue eye and one brown eye. Is a big fan of Cleveland pro sports and Ohio State University sports.

Trivia: Landed her first broadcasting job in Traverse City, MI, at WPBN/WTOM-TV. While at KXTV-TV in Sacramento, she won regional awards including the Edward R. Murrow Award (2000) and the National Headliner Award (1998) for sports reporting. Joined ESPN in 2002 as an anchor on ESPNews and SportsCenter. Did her first work on the Winter X Games in 2006. Was temporarily suspended from ESPN in 2008 after criticizing Notre Dame's football program at a roast for Mike Greenberg and Mike Golic. Went skydiving with the Army's Golden Knights. Performed with members of Cirque du Soleil on the trampoline.