Mediterranean women are the best, according to Rocky star Sylvester 'Sly' Stallone, back in Italy to chair the Miss Italy final Friday.
"I like the classical, dark, Mediterranean type, but not just for their beauty - for their strength," said the 60-year-old Hollywood star, who is completing his sixth Rocky feature.
"Women should nurture men, make them grow. Cold beauty remains on the surface," said Stallone, who was married for two years to Scandinavian beauty Brigitte Nielsen.
Sly, who has been accompanied to this Tuscan spa town by his blonde third wife Jennifer Flavin, a former model he met
15 years ago, said man's first priority should be a happy marriage.
"There are two main rules: first, the husband shouldn't speak too much, and second, he should realise that a happy wife means a happy life".
Stallone, who broke into Hollywood with his first Rocky film in the '70s and followed that series with his equally successful Rambo franchise, is proud of his Italian roots and a self-professed connoisseur of art. A keen amateur painter, he has been quoted as citing Leonardo da Vinci as his personal hero. Friday night will be the first time Sly has chaired a glamour-contest jury but he assured fans that age hasn't withered his passion for beauty.
"The last thing that ages in a man is the heart," he said.
Asked if he had seen any of the Miss Italy contests, he said "I watched last year's on TV and it was beautiful". "Then, of course, there was some guy called Bruce in it," he quipped, referring to long-time friend and fellow action hero Bruce Willis, who was chairman of the judges in 2005.
Stallone said he was still in top form and worked out three times a week. Perhaps in reference to his hopes of making a comeback after a decade on the Hollywood sidelines, he said: "What counts isn't how hard you punch but how well you take a punch.
"Life always has a few new punches to throw at you".
