Charlie Sheen Biography

Biography

Birth Name
Carlos Irwin Estevez
Date of birth (location)
3 September 1965
New York, New York, USA

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The third son of actor Martin Sheen, intense, square-jawed Charlie Sheen exploded into the public's consciousness as the narrator-grunt of Oliver Stone's autobiographical Vietnam War picture "Platoon" (1986), a deja vu of sorts that returned him to the Philippines, the scene of his first feature film (as an extra), Francis Ford Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" (1979), starring his father. That performance coupled with his role as Michael Douglas' unscrupulous protege whose naked ambition leads him into conflict with his blue-collar father (played by his real-life dad) in Stone's "Wall Street" the following year, catapulted him to the status of one of the hottest young actors in Hollywood. Since then, Sheen has worked prolifically, but for much of the 90s, it was his profligacy that earned the biggest headlines and arguably prevented him from fulfilling his early promise.

Sheen, who was appearing in his family's home movies by the time he was in kindergarten, made his professional debut as an extra in the TV-movie "The Execution of Private Eddie Slovik" (NBC, 1974), starring his father. Growing up in Malibu, he made countless Super-8 movies and videos with childhood friends Sean and Chris Penn and Rob and Chad Lowe and had his sights set on following in his father's acting footsteps, but the bad boy side of him also surfaced early with arrests for marijuana possession and credit card forgery coming prior to his unceremonious failure to graduate from high school. Sheen did not look back, however, appearing in nine films in the three years following his feature acting debut in "Grizzly II--The Predator" (1984). He showed some screen presence in John Milius' "Red Dawn" (also 1984), starred as a bored California teenager who embarks on a violent rampage in Penelope Spheeris' "The Boys Next Door" (1985) and attracted attention for his role as a sensitive high school jock in "Lucas" (1986), all before "Platoon" put him over the top.

Sheen has pretty much eschewed the small screen, only appearing in "Silence of the Heart" (CBS, 1984), as the guilt-ridden friend of a suicide, "Out of Darkness" (CBS, 1985), a vehicle for his father, and "Beyond the Law" (HBO, 1994). On the other hand, his feature work has varied widely in genre, quality and popularity. The actor proved effective amid largely male ensembles in the youth-oriented Western "Young Guns" and John Sayles' period baseball film, "Eight Men Out" (both 1988), and he also demonstrated an aptitude for sports comedy in "Major League" (1989) and action adventure with "Navy SEALS" and Clint Eastwood's "The Rookie" (both 1990). Sheen has also appeared in such unremarkable fare as "Wisdom" (1986) and "Men at Work" (1990), both co-starring and directed by brother Emilio, Adam Rifkin's "The Chase" and "Terminal Velocity" (both 1994). His starring turn in the surprise comedy hit "Hot Shots!" (1991), a wacky spoof of "Top Gun" (1986) and its ilk, represents his best work of the 90s and led to the inevitable "Rambo" send-up "Hot Shots! Part Deux" (1993). Both showed Sheen's unsuspected talent as a deadpan comic and increased his reputation as a sex symbol, further enhanced by his dashing Aramis in the umpteenth remake of "The Three Musketeers" (1993).

Sheen's outspokenness has made him a favorite with entertainment journalists who rarely went away disappointed, relaying such pearls as "I'd like to jam Bridget Fonda" (upsetting her then-beau Eric Stoltz) or "[Stephen] Dorff is a pretty good actor, but he was j---ing off in some high school gymnasium when I made ['Platoon']." His randiness (which includes relationships with at least two adult screen stars) extended to a penchant for call girls (and paying for them with Travelers Checks purchased in his name); Sheen revealed under oath during the investigation into Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss that he had spent more than $50,000 for trysts with her employees during a 15-month period. Sheen then married Donna Peele, a model he met filming a cigarette commercial in Japan, saying "She's an angel sent from Heaven to take me through the rest of the journey." The always quotable one then let slip the wonderful analogy, "You buy a car, it breaks down," when the marriage ended six months later. His biggest cross to bear, however, has been substance abuse, and that more than his other peccadilloes (including his 1996 battery of girlfriend Brittany Ashland) has removed him from the Hollywood A-list.

Sheen attempted to alter his image in 1996, announcing he had "found God" (and that a voice had told him his marriage to Peele wouldn't work). He made a well-received guest appearance as a Naval officer romantically involved with Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow) on the NBC sitcom "Friends" but also headlined the bombs "The Arrival", a sci-fi epic about an astronomer obsessed with finding extra-terrestrials, and "The Shadow Conspiracy", as a presidential aide who becomes targeted for assassination. Finally, the actor had a box-office hit teamed with rising black comic Chris Tucker in the comedy "Money Talks" (1997), his stiff tabloid TV reporter contrasting well with Tucker's loose street con in a pairing deemed comparable to that of Gene Wilder and Richard Pryor. On the heels of this high came new lows when a drug overdose landed him in the hospital in May 1998 and earned him a subsequent sentencing to a detox clinic. His father (himself a recovering alcoholic) said at the time, "It's my hope that he will accept, recover and become free."

The book on Charlie Sheen still has many chapters left. At the time of his overdose, he had not yet celebrated his 33rd birthday, despite plenty of mileage on the chassis. He formed a production company with Bret Michaels (former lead singer of Poison) and branched out into screenwriting ("On the Border" and "No Code of Conduct", both lensed 1997), and he has indicated that directing is in his future. "I'm going to direct. It's getting real close. I'm just getting tired of being the guy on the set who knows more than the cat calling the shots."

Sheen began his rehabilitation co-starring with his brother Emilio Estevez as real-life brothers Jim and Artie Mitchell, the porn producers of "Behind the Green Door" (1972) in the Showtime biopic "Rated X" (2000). The film allowed Sheen and his sibling the opportunity to bury their differences over the former's drug use (which led to a 10-year estrangement). Then Sheen further jump-started his career taking over the lead from Michael J. Fox in the politically-themed sitcom "Spin City" in fall 2000. While there were naysayers who weren't sure that the intense actor could pull off working in a weekly comedy series, he more than proved them wrong, developing a nice rapport with the cast (particularly Heather Locklear). Not only did he reinvigorate his own career (he would ultimately receive a Golden Globe nominatrion in the role), but he also rejuvenated the flagging series. Of course, it didn't hurt --in a case of life imitating art -- that his character, Charlie Crawford, was something of a dissolute with a shady past who was trying hard to rehabilitate himself.

Sheen's "reel" life impacted his real life when he co-starred with actress Denise Richards in the mildly amusing comedy "Good Advice" (2001)--the two quickly fell in love and were married, leading to Richards taking a recurring role in "Spin City." The two would also appear together in the horror spoof sequel "Scary Movie 3"--playing a farmer and his wife while parodying the lugubrious Mel Gibson crop circle thriller "Signs"--in 2003, the same year Sheen starred in the hit sit-com "Two and a Half Men" (CBS, 2003- ), playing hedonistic jingle writer Charlie Harper, who takes in his newly divorced brother (Jon Cryer) and his 10-year-old nephew (Angus T. Jones). Sheen also appeared as the enforcer for a Hawaiian development baron (Gary Sinise) in the meandering, Elmore Leornard-derived caper film "The Big Bounce" (2004). Sheen also appeared opposite Richards on a pair of episodes of his sit-com before their divorce made headlines in 2005: Richards announced her intent to split from the actor while several months preganant.