The son of an amateur bodybuilder, Rourke was a naturally gifted pugilist, and while he was between 16 and 21 years of age, built up an enviable amateur record, reportedly highlighting this patch with a streak of 12 consecutive first-round knockouts. Whoa.
The concussions were getting too much, though, and when he acted in a friend's play because the current actor had quit, Rourke immediately discovered a love for acting.
His first screen appearance came in Steven Spielberg's comedy 1941, and Rourke received focus after Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat, where he played an arsonist. Then came Barry Levinson's Diner and Francis Ford Coppola's Rumble Fish, films that really cemented Rourke's reputation as a solid performer in the independent cinema circuit.
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