Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa

Sylvester Stallone as boxer Rocky Balboa (here hugging his girlfriend Adrian, played by Talia Shire) is puffy, bruised, and heroic in the Oscar-winning film Rocky (1976). The film, written by Stallone and directed by John G. Avildsen, won the Academy Award as the year's best picture; Avildsen won as best director, and Richard Halsey and Scott Conrad won for best editing. Stallone and Shire were nominated as best actor and best actress but did not win, losing to Peter Finch and Faye Dunaway, respectively, both from the film Network.