CELEBRITY BIRTHDAY

IT may come as a surprise to many that beefy actor Sylvester Stallone is also a writer, director and painter.

The multi-talented Stallone was born into an unhappy family. He spent his first five years in a foster home. He was also a problem youth, having been through 12 schools.

He was eventually sent to a school for problem adolescents, graduated and entered the American College of Switzerland, where he discovered acting.

Stallone rose to fame after starring in the 1976 Oscar-winning movie Rocky , which he wrote himself.

The actor was the director of John Travolta's well-known movie Staying Alive.

In the late '80s, Stallone was listed as one of the three most recognisable people in the world.