Eight things you never knew about Sylvester Stallone

HE'S starred in a porno and once sold his pet pooch for $50. Sly Stallone's past may be a little 'rocky' but it's certainly entertaining.

THERE'S more to Sylvester Stallone than just Rambo and Rocky.

It turns out the 67-year-old is actually an art loving, partially paralysed porno star who counts himself lucky to be alive after filming hundreds of punishing action scenes.

So on the day that his new boxing movie Grudge Match hits cinemas, news.com.au thought it would highlight eight things you never knew about the Italian Stallion.

He once sold his dog for $50 and then bought him back for $3000: Stallone was desperate for cash before he made Rocky, so desperate in fact that he had to part with his pet pooch.

"I sold my bull-mastiff Butkus to a little person," Stallone said. "You can't use the word 'dwarf' anymore? Let's just say a little person. I tied my dog up at the store with a sign that said a hundred bucks. I got $50 from this guy called Little Jimmy. When I sold the Rocky script, I went to see Little Jimmy and begged for the dog back. He lined up his children, 'Oh my kids love the dog'. I said, 'You've only had him for a f***ing week.' He wanted to fight me and said he was gonna kill me - he was a crazy little person. I couldn't fight him, they'd arrest me, so I offered to pay double. Anyway, $3000 and several threats later ..." The actor eventually went on to cast Little Jimmy in Rocky.

Sylvester Stallone with Dolph Lundgren in scene from film 'Rocky IV'.

He was seriously injured by Dolph Lundgren when filming Rocky IV: "I felt this thumping," Stallone said to Entertainment Weekly about the iconic fight scene. "It was hard to breathe. I went to the emergency room. My blood pressure was like 290, and they put me on a low-level flight to St. John's Hospital where I was put into intensive care because the pericardial sac around my heart was swelling and impeding the beating of my heart. I was there, like I said, for nine days surrounded by nuns. Not good."

Part of his face is paralysed: There were a few complications when Jackie Stallone was giving birth to Sylvester and obstetricians were forced to use forceps to help with the delivery. Unfortunately they didn't use them correctly and a nerve was severed, leaving the lower left side of his face paralysed. This accident is also what caused his slurred speech … Aaaadddrrrriiiiiiaaaaaannnnnnn.

Sexy Stallone in 'The Party at Kitty and Stud's'.

He has a porno pas t: In 1970 Stallone made his acting debut as the lead male in the soft-core porno The Party at Kitty and Stud's. He appeared fully nude in the film and was paid just $200 for the role. After he found fame with Rocky, the porno was re-released as The Italian Stallion.

He's turned down some big roles: Stallone must be kicking himself after passing on some roles that made his fellow actors famous. He turned down the role of John McClane in Die Hard, which went to Bruce Willis, he said no to playing Superman, which eventually went to Christopher Reeve, he was first choice to be the Beverly Hills Cop instead of Eddie Murphy and he was originally asked to be the wealthy womaniser in Pretty Woman but passed, allowing Richard Gere to step in. We bet Julia Roberts was glad …

Who knew Lou from 'The Simpsons' was based on Sly?

A Simpsons character is based on him: Hank Azaria, who voices a number of characters on the animated series, reportedly based the voice of Lou the Policeman on Stallone.

He seriously hurt himself in a weightlifting competition: "I used to be able to bench press around 385-400lbs (175-180kg's) and then I severely tore my right pectoral so under my arm I have 160 stitches," Stallone said in a chat forum with fans.

"I had to have a window cut into my shoulder bone, and cable laced through the damage, and muscle pulled back to the bone where it was attached. That's why I'm so vascular on one side. It might be interesting to note that when I received this injury, I was stupid enough to get into a bench press contest with former Mr Universe, Franco Columbo, who was considered one of the strongest men in the world. The accident happened in his garage, which was inhabited, believe it or not, by this demented-looking one-winged spotted owl. I couldn't make this up. When my muscle exploded, I fell onto the floor. Franco pulled the weights off of me and all I could see was my arm turning black and that friggin goofy, one-winged, mouse-munching motherf***er flapping around in tight circles."

Visitors stand in front of the painting 'Champion Due' by Sylvester Stallone during the art exhibition 'Sylvester Stallone Painting From 1975 Until Today' at the Russian Museum in Saint Petersburg in October last year.

He's an artist: He boxes on canvas and he likes to paint on it too! The actor's been doing oil paintings for more than 50 years and held his first exhibition in Switzerland in 2011. Last year Stallone channelled Rocky IV and held an exhibition in Russia. Drago did not attend.