Sylvester Stallone (Born: July 6, 1946)

Best known for portraying Rocky Balboa and John Rambo, Sylvester Stallone is an esteemed American action star, film director, producer, and writer. His personal acting filmography to date lists a very, very impressive 59 films!

The script for Rocky was written by Stallone himself and although really struggling financially at the time, he refused to sell it unless he was allowed to star in it. Not only did he get what he wanted, but the movie ended up winning some well-deserved Academy Awards - including Best Picture in 1977.

The film has spawned seven sequels: Rocky II (1979), Rocky III (1982), Rocky IV (1985), Rocky V (1990), Rocky Balboa (2006), Creed (2015), and Creed II (2018). Stallone portrays Rocky in all eight films, wrote seven of the eight films, and directed four of the six titular installments.

As for Rambo - it’s considered an American media franchise centered on action films. There have been five films released so far in the series: First Blood (1982), Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985), Rambo III (1988), Rambo (2008) and Rambo: Last Blood (2019). The films follow John Rambo, a US Army veteran played by Sylvester Stallone, who is traumatized by his experience in the Vietnam War, and uses the skills he gained there to fight corrupt police officers, enemy troops and drug cartels. Rambo originated from the 1972 novel First Blood by David Morrell.

Stallone co-wrote the screenplays of all five films, and directed Rambo. The film series has grossed $819 million in total, with the most successful film, , grossing $300 million.

The Rocky film series has grossed more than $1.7 billion at the worldwide box office.

Sylvester Stallone’s own story is a true inspiration for anyone who struggles for recognition to keep working at what you love, follow your dreams, and always believe there is light at the end of the tunnel. He has a good example to follow… to keep going and going and going.

September 2020
Sweetheart Photo Of The Month
Orlando, Florida
Renee Lundy

As the Daughter of a Dance Teacher Mom, she grew up dancing throughout childhood and through her teen years. She competed for many years on the local and on the national level and was honored to be a member of Kim McKimmie’s I LOVE DANCE Sweethearts from 1996 - 2000.

Renee was part of huge Sweetheart productions: “Color Of Love”, “Trains, Boats & Planes”, “Dancing Up A Storm” and “Recipe For Love.” She loved every minute of the programs in both Las Vegas and New York City and says: “I experienced those cities in a way I could have never done on my own. I was taught to be much more independent and how to take care of myself. I know that it enhanced my personality and I gained confidence of my abilities inside and outside of dance. It was beyond wonderful to have the opportunity to dance with amazing dancers from all around the world and to work with the greatest Choreographers. I really learned so much from Sweethearts, and the lesson of adopting the attitude that no matter what ‘the show must go on’ was one that has continued to serve me in many instances in my life.”

For the past 8 years, Renee has worked in the medical field as a nurse. Her ethics, professional manners and sense of timing is what we all are proud to see from our front line workers. She is currently working at The Spinal Clinic and somehow continues to find time to take some dance classes at her sister’s Dance Studio, Sarah’s School of Dance. (Her sister, Sarah Lundy, was also a former Sweetheart.) Miss Kim was so delighted to see her dancing - and competing again - just the season before last in Florida. She commented, “I was thrilled to watch her dancing with all her heart (nearly 20 years after Sweethearts!) and I was so impressed by her ongoing talent, style and grace. Her performance with other lovely ladies won them an Overall High Score and brought back some fabulous Sweetheart performance memories. “

Renee is blessed with two talented children (of course they dance!) Alexis is 16 years old and Ethan is 11 years old. The lucky man in her life is Larry Markx. We are so very proud of this former Sweetheart!

September 2020
Celebrity Photo Of The Month

Joyce Carol Oates and Kim McKimmie

Joyce Carol Oates is an American Author who holds the esteemed position of Distinguished Professor of Humanities at Princeton University where she taught in the Creative Writing Program from 1978 to 2014. Kim McKimmie met Oates in May 2012, at an Oregon State University function where Oates was being honored with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Kim took a photo with her at the reception following the award presentation and had Miss Joyce sign a copy of one of her books.

Joyce Carol Oates has mentored countless young writers including best-selling writer Jonathan Safran Foer and is considered prolific in both the quantity and variety of her work. She has written 58 novels, over 30 collections of short stories, eight volumes of poetry, several essays and book reviews. Her literature spans genres as distinct as family sagas, suspense and gothic fiction.

Born in 1938, Oates grew up on her parent’s farm outside of Lockport, New York. Oates’ first novel, With Shuddering Fall, was published when she was only 28-years-old. Her novels, Black Water (1992), What I Lived For (1994), and Blonde (2000) and short story collections The Wheel of Love (1970) and Lovely, Dark, Deep: Stories (2014) were all finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. She has received several National Book Awards and many Lifetime Achievement Awards.

You may be familiar with her beloved novel, We Were The Mulvaneys (1996), which was adapted into a movie in 2002 starring Beau Bridges and Blythe Danner.

If you haven’t tip-toed around the rich literary world of Joyce Carol Oates, search her bibliography and you’ll find that her works are achievements for five or six lifetimes.

She is quoted as saying “Reading is the sole means by which we slip, involuntarily, often helplessly, into another's skin, another's voice, another's soul.”

Joyce Carol Oates has given the world a precious gift by sharing her soul, amazing imagination and intellect through her writing.