Sylvester Stallone Celebrates Marriage Of 24 Years To Wife Jennifer Flavin — Happy Anniversary

May 21, 2021

Sylvester Stallone is known for his Hollywood roles and dashing good looks, but his family has also shared some of his famous spotlights along the way. Stallone was born in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, on July 6, 1946, to an American astrologer mother and an Italian father who, according to the Guardian, Stallone claimed he "ate raw sparrows and rabbit entrails."

"He was a caveman type," Stallone said. "A real character."

According to the Chicago Tribune, his mother had insisted doctors used two tribunes when she delivered Stallone, which were misused and ended up tearing his facial nerve on the left side, leaving the infant with a partially paralyzed lip, chin, and tongue. That accident would give him the slurred speech and the iconic snarly look fans recognize him for today. 

In his 20's, Stallone yearned to find work as an actor in the big apple of New York, but no matter how many auditions he attended, he would never get cast. "Nobody, nobody, would give me a break," he bitterly recalled.

By 1975, with a pregnant wife and only $106 in his name, Stallone was desperate to find work. But with nobody willing to hire him, he took matters into his own hands and, in under four days, wrote the screenplay for "Rocky." By luck and persistence, the movie was realized and propelled him into stardom.

Since then, Stallone has been through ups and downs in both his career and private life. On May 17, Stallone took to social media to pay tribute to his wife of 24 years, Jennifer Flavin.

Sylvester Stallone's private life has not been uneventful. In addition to his career troubles and slow rise into stardom, the action movie star has also been through three marriages over the years. 

Stallone's romantic life was a popular topic in tabloids, with the media following relentlessly and keeping tabs on all three marriages of his. He married his first wife, Sasha Czack, in 1974 at the age of 28. They had two sons together, Sage, who was born in 1976 and died in 2012 from heart disease, and Seargeoh, who was born in 1979 and diagnosed with autism as a child. After 11 years of marriage, the couple filed for and officially divorced in February 1985. Less than a year after their divorce, in December of the same year, Stallone married his second wife, famous model Brigitte Nielsen. This marriage, however, didn't last long, and the couple ended things and divorced two years later. 

In 1997, Stallone finally married his long-time on-and-off girlfriend Jennifer Flavin, a former American model. The couple had originally met in 1988 and already had several ups and downs before their official marriage. After roughly five years of officially dating, Stallone broke up with Flavin in 1994 - via FedEx.

"He sent me a six-page handwritten letter, in pen," she told People at the time. "It was pretty sloppy." Looking back at this from a 2021 perspective, six handwritten pages almost seem gentlemanly. Of course, back in 1994, people did not break up via text message yet. At the time, Flavin was devasted. Even more so because the rumors at the time said that Stallone had left her because another woman was pregnant by him.

Speaking to People, Flavin stated:
"It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea this was going to happen. We talked about us having children, about when I was going to get pregnant. We were already picking names, marking down names that he liked and I liked."

Stallone and Flavin reconciled and reunited in 1995, after a DNA test revealed the child was not Stallone's. In 1997, the couple finally married officially and has stayed together ever since.

They share three daughters, Sophia, born in 1996, Sistine, born in 1998, and Scarlet, born in 2002. In 2017, the three young ladies shared the title of Miss Golden Globe at the same event they served as the Golden Globe Ambassadors.

"Freaking out is an understatement," Sistine told People at the time. "We were dancing, we were screaming, we got some music playing, the dogs were barking, it was amazing. It was so much fun."

Stallone seems to appreciate and love his wife and their family genuinely. Taking to social media on their anniversary, the star shared a photo of the happy couple and captioned it: "It's happy 24th Wedding Anniversary Time !!! Time is flying but I have a blessed life Thanks to my wife and Family."

With his daughters coming into their own as models and actresses, Stallone seems to be the model of a proud father. Speaking to People on the family's home life, he jokingly said:
"I basically just keep my mouth shut and don't cause waves. Again, she's fantastic, but it's all women. Women rule. Even the dogs, they're female and the one male's been neutered."

Happy anniversary to Sylvster Stallone and Jennifer Flavin! Are you a fan of Stallone's work? Tell us your thoughts and pass this story along.