Martin Sheen
Martin Sheen in 2008
Born	Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (1940-08-03) August 3, 1940 (age 71) Dayton, Ohio, United States
Occupation	Actor, Activist
Years active	1961–present
Spouse	Janet Templeton (1961–present)
Children	Emilio, Ramon, Carlos, Renée
Signature

Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez (born August 3, 1940), better known by his stage name Martin Sheen, is an American film actor best known for his performances in the films Badlands (1973), Apocalypse Now (1979), Wall Street (1987), The Departed (2006), his role as The Illusive Man in the Mass Effect trilogy and President Josiah Bartlet in the television series The West Wing.

He is considered one of the best actors never to be nominated for an Academy Award despite his acclaimed performances.^[opinion][1] In film he has won the Best Actor award at the San Sebastián International Film Festival for his performance as Kit Carruthers in Badlands. His portrayal of Capt. Willard in Apocalypse Now earned a nomination for the BAFTA Award for Best Actor. Sheen has worked with a wide variety of film directors, such as Richard Attenborough, Francis Ford Coppola, Terrence Malick, David Cronenberg, Mike Nichols, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg and Oliver Stone. He has had a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame since 1989. In television he has won both a Golden Globe and two Screen Actors Guild awards for playing the lead role of President Bartlet in The West Wing, and an Emmy for guest acting in the sitcom Murphy Brown.

Born and raised in the United States from immigrant parents – a Galician father, Francisco Estévez from Salceda de Caselas in Galicia (Spain) and a first-generation Irish mother, Mary-Anne Phelan from Borrisokane in County Tipperary – he adopted the stage name Martin Sheen to help him gain acting parts.^[2] He is the father of actors Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez, Carlos Irwin Estevez (Charlie Sheen), and Renée Estevez. His younger brother Joe Estevez is also an actor.

Although known as an actor, Sheen has also directed one film, Cadence (1990), appearing alongside sons Charlie and Ramon. He has also narrated, produced and directed in documentary television, earning two Daytime Emmy awards in the 1980s. In addition to film and television, Sheen has also become notable for his activism in liberal politics.

Early life[link]

Sheen was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Mary-Ann (née Phelan; 1903–1951) and Francisco Estévez Martinez (1898–1974).^[3] During birth, Sheen's left arm was crushed by forceps, giving him limited lateral movement of his left arm, which is three inches shorter than his right.^[4] Both of Sheen's parents were immigrants, his father from Parderrubias, Galicia, Spain; and his mother from Borrisokane, County Tipperary, Ireland.^[5][6] After moving to Dayton in the 1930s, his father was a factory worker/machinery inspector at the National Cash Register Company.^[7] Sheen grew up on Brown Street in the South Park neighborhood, one of ten children (nine boys and a girl).^[6] Due to his father's work, Sheen also spent part of his childhood in Bermuda, where the family lived on St. John's Road, Pembroke.^[8] He graduated from Chaminade High School (now Chaminade Julienne Catholic High School) and was raised Catholic.^[6][9] Sheen was the first of the children born in the United States.^[10] At age 14 he organized a strike of golf caddies while working at a private golf club in Dayton, Ohio. He complained about the golfers: "They often used obscene language in front of us. . . . we were little boys and they were abusive . . . anti-Semitic . . . And they, for the most part, were upstanding members of the community."^[11]

Sheen was drawn to acting at a young age, but his father disapproved of his interest in the field. Despite his father's opposition, Sheen borrowed money from a Catholic priest and moved to New York City in his early 20s, hoping to make it as an actor.^[7] It was there that he met the legendary Catholic activist Dorothy Day. Working with her Catholic Worker Movement, he began his commitment to social justice,^[6][12] and would one day go on to play Peter Maurin, cofounder of the Catholic Worker Movement, in Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story. Sheen deliberately failed the entrance exam for the University of Dayton so that he could pursue his acting career.^[13]

He adopted his stage name, Martin Sheen, from a combination of the CBS casting director, Robert Dale Martin, who gave him his first big break, and the televangelist archbishop, Fulton J. Sheen.^[14] In a 2003 Inside the Actors Studio interview, Sheen explained, "Whenever I would call for an appointment, whether it was a job or an apartment, and I would give my name, there was always that hesitation and when I'd get there, it was always gone. So I thought, I got enough problems trying to get an acting job, so I invented Martin Sheen. It's still Estevez officially. I never changed it officially. I never will. It's on my driver's license and passport and everything. I started using Sheen, I thought I'd give it a try, and before I knew it, I started making a living with it and then it was too late. In fact, one of my great regrets is that I didn't keep my name as it was given to me. I knew it bothered my dad."^[6][7][15]

Career[link]

Sheen at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.

Sheen has said he was greatly influenced by the actor James Dean.^[6] He developed a theatre company with other actors in hopes that a production would earn him recognition. In 1963, he made an appearance in Nightmare, an episode of the television science fiction series The Outer Limits. The following year, he starred in the Broadway play The Subject Was Roses, reprising his role in the 1968 film of the same name. In 1969 Live Bait (Mission: Impossible) third season of the TV series, Sheen played Albert, assistant to the colonel interrogating an American agent that IM was tasked to free. He then played Dobbs in the film adaptation of Catch-22. Sheen was then a co-star in the controversial Emmy Award-winning 1972 television movie That Certain Summer, said to be the first television movie in America to portray homosexuality in a sympathetic light. His next important feature film role was in 1973, when he starred with Sissy Spacek in the crime drama Badlands, which he has said is his best film.^[6][16] Also in 1973, Sheen appeared opposite David Janssen in "Such Dust As Dreams Are Made On", which was the first pilot for Harry O.

In 1974 Sheen portrayed a hot rod driver in the television movie The California Kid, and that same year received an Emmy Award^[17] nomination for Best Actor in a television drama for his portrayal of Pvt. Eddie Slovik in the television film The Execution of Private Slovik.^[6] Based on an incident that occurred during World War II, the film told the story of the only U.S. soldier to be executed for desertion since the American Civil War. Sheen's performance ultimately led to Francis Ford Coppola choosing him for a starring role in 1979's Apocalypse Now, a film that gained him wide recognition. Filming in the Philippine jungle in the typhoon season of 1976, Sheen admitted he was not in the greatest shape and was drinking heavily.^[6] For the film’s legendary opening sequence in a Saigon hotel room, Sheen didn’t have to act so much since it was his 36th birthday and he was very drunk.^[18] After 12 months, Sheen reached breaking point, suffering a minor heart attack and he had to crawl out to a road for help.^[6] After his heart attack, his younger brother Joe Estevez stood in for him in a number of long shots and in some of the voice-overs.^[19] Sheen was able to resume filming a few weeks later.^[18]

Sheen in Annapolis, May 10, 2004

Sheen has played U.S. President John F. Kennedy (in the miniseries Kennedy — The Presidential Years); Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in the television special The Missiles of October; White House Chief of Staff A.J. McInnerney in The American President; sinister future president Greg Stillson in The Dead Zone; the President in the two-part TV movie, Medusa's Child; and fictional Democratic president Josiah "Jed" Bartlet in the acclaimed television drama, The West Wing.^[6]

As of November 4, 2010, it has been confirmed that he had been cast as Uncle Ben in Sony's 2012 reboot of the Spider-Man series, directed by Marc Webb.^[20]

Sheen has performed voice-over work as the narrator for the Eyewitness series and as the "real" Seymour Skinner in the controversial episode of The Simpsons titled "The Principal and the Pauper." In addition, he played the role of the Illusive Man in the highly acclaimed video game Mass Effect 2, and the sequel, Mass Effect 3.

Sheen recently travelled to Mexico City to star in Chamaco with Kirk Harris, Alex Perea, Gustavo Sanchez Parra and Michael Madsen. In November 2010 he filmed Stella Days^[21] in County Tipperary, Ireland, near the birthplace of his mother. Thaddeus O'Sullivan is directing and Irish actor Stephen Rea also stars.^[22] He appeared in Martin Scorsese's "The Departed" as Captain Oliver Queenan, a commanding officer who is watching an undercover cop(Leonardo Dicaprio) who is a mole in a Irish American mob run by a vicous mob boss(Jack Nicholson). Martin Sheen and son Ramon Estevez combined both their real and stage names to create the Warner Bros.-affiliated company, Estevez Sheen Productions. The company’s latest film is The Way, written and directed by Sheen's son Emilio Estevez who also stars in the film as Martin’s on-screen son, who dies while hiking the Camino de Santiago. His daughter, Renée, also has a part in the film. Driven by sadness, Martin’s character, an American doctor, leaves his Californian life and embarks on the 800-km pilgrimage from the French Pyrenees to Spain’s Santiago de Compostela himself, with his son’s ashes. It was set to be released in theaters on Easter 2011.^[15]

Martin appeared in the Irish Film entitled Stella Days directed by Irish Director Thaddeus O'Sullivan and stars IFTA award winning actress Amy Huberman. The film sees Martin Sheen play parish priest, Daniel Barry, whose love for the cinema leads him on a path to help set up a local cinema in the town of Borrisokane. Daniel comes up against opposition from doubtful local parishioners who question his faith and the Bishop Hegarty, played by Tom Hickey, who is more interested in raising funds for a new church.^[22][23]

Political activism[link]

Martin Sheen at an anti-war protest in October 2007.

Although he did not attend college, Sheen credited the Marianists at University of Dayton as a major influence on his public activism. Sheen is known for his outspoken support of liberal political causes, such as opposition to United States military actions and a toxic-waste incinerator in East Liverpool, Ohio. Sheen has resisted calls to run for office, saying: "There's no way that I could be the president. You can't have a pacifist in the White House . . . I'm an actor. This is what I do for a living."^[24] Sheen is an honorary trustee of the Dayton International Peace Museum.

He supported the 1965 farm worker movement with Cesar Chavez in Delano, California.^[25] He is a proponent of the Consistent life ethic, which advocates against abortion, capital punishment and war.^[26] He also supports the Democrats for Life of America's Pregnant Women Support Act.^[27] In 2004 along with Rob Reiner, Sheen campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, and later campaigned for nominee John Kerry.

On May 16, 1995, Martin Sheen and Paul Watson from the non-profit environmental organization Sea Shepherd, were confronted by a number of Canadian sealers in a hotel on Magdalen Islands over Sea Shepherd's history of attacks on sealing and whaling ships. Sheen negotiated with the sealers while Watson was escorted to the airport by police.^[28] In early 2003 Sheen signed the "Not in My Name" declaration opposing the invasion of Iraq (along with prominent figures such as Noam Chomsky and Susan Sarandon); the declaration appeared in the magazine The Nation. On August 28, 2005, he visited anti-Iraq War activist Cindy Sheehan at Camp Casey. He prayed with her and spoke to her supporters. He began his remarks by stating, "At least you've got the acting president of the United States," referring to his role as fictional president Josiah Bartlet on The West Wing.^[29] Cindy Sheehan had been demanding a second meeting^[30] with the President, George W. Bush.

Sheen endorsed marches and walkouts called by the civil rights group By Any Means Necessary (BAMN) to force the state of California to honor the Cesar Chavez holiday. On the day of the protests (March 30), thousands of students, primarily Latino from California and elsewhere, walked out of school in support of the demand. Sheen also stated that he participated in the large-scale immigration marches in Los Angeles in 2006 and 2007.^{[31][32][dead link][citation needed]}

On April 10, 2006, the New York Times reported that members of the Democratic Party in Ohio had contacted Sheen, attempting to persuade him to run for the United States Senate in Ohio. Sheen declined the offer, stating, "I'm just not qualified. You're mistaking celebrity for credibility."^[33] On November 26, 2006, the Sunday Times in the Republic of Ireland, where Sheen was then living due to his enrolment in NUI Galway, reported on his speaking out against mushroom farmers exploiting foreign workers by paying them as little as €2.50 an hour in a country where the minimum wage was €7.65.

Sheen's latest activism includes attendances at meetings of the environmentalist group Earth First!^[34] and a speaking appearance at youth activism event We Day^[35] Sheen has also endorsed and supported Help Darfur Now, a student-run organization to help aid victims of the genocide in Darfur, the western region in Sudan. He also appears in the recent anti-fur documentary "Skin Trade."^[36]

Sheen has appeared in television and radio ads urging Washington State residents to vote 'no' on Initiative 1000, a proposed assisted suicide law before voters in the 2008 election.^[37]

Sheen initially endorsed New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson in the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election, and helped raise funds for his campaign.^[38] After Richardson dropped out of the campaign, Sheen stated in a BBC Two interview that he was supporting Barack Obama.^[33]

In March 2012, Sheen was featured with George Clooney in a performance of Dustin Lance Black's play, '8' — a staged reenactment of the federal trial that overturned California's Prop 8 ban on same-sex marriage — as attorney Theodore Olson.^[39] The production was held at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre and broadcast on YouTube to raise money for the American Foundation for Equal Rights.^[40][41]

Personal life[link]

Sheen (right) with son Emilio Estevez in February 2011

Family[link]

Sheen married art student Janet Templeton^{[citation needed]} on December 23, 1961, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are actors: Emilio, Ramón, Carlos, and Renée. All but one decided to keep their own names when they began acting - Carlos made the decision to use his father's stage name, and is known as Charlie Sheen.^[6]

Charlie Sheen is Martin's youngest son.

His son, Charlie Sheen, also starred in a film about Vietnam, Platoon. Charlie Sheen once stated that he wanted to star in a film similar to one his father was in because he wanted to know what it feels like. They jointly parodied their respective previous roles in the 1993 movie Hot Shots Part Deux: their river patrol boats passed each other, at which point they both shouted, "I loved you in Wall Street!", a film they both starred in as father and son in 1987.

He has played the father of sons Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen in various projects: he played Emilio's father in The War at Home, In the Custody of Strangers and The Way, and Charlie's father in Wall Street, No Code of Conduct and two episodes of Spin City. He also appeared as a guest star in one episode of Two and a Half Men playing the father of Charlie's neighbor Rose (Melanie Lynskey), and another as guest star Denise Richards' father; at the time that episode aired, Richards was still married to Charlie. Martin also played a "future" version of Charlie in a VISA TV commercial. Martin has played other characters with his sons and his daughter. He starred in the film Bobby, which was directed by Emilio. Estevez also starred in the movie alongside his father. His daughter Renée had a supporting role in The West Wing, as one of President Josiah Bartlet's (Sheen) secretaries.

Sheen became a grandfather at age 43 when his son, Emilio, had a son named Taylor Levi with his girlfriend, Carey Salley. Sheen has six other grandchildren, Paloma Rae (from Emilio), Cassandra, Sam J, Lola Rose, Bob and Max (from Charlie).^{[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49]}

He celebrated his 50th wedding anniversary in late 2011.^[7]

In 2012, Sheen was a guest on Who Do You Think You Are?, tracing his Irish and Spanish ancestry.

Academic pursuits[link]

After the end of filming of The West Wing, Sheen announced plans to further his education: "My plan is to read English literature, philosophy and theology in Galway, Ireland, where my late mother came from and where I'm also a citizen."^[50] Speaking after an honorary arts doctorate was conferred on him by the National University of Ireland, Sheen joked that he would be the "oldest undergraduate" at the National University of Ireland (NUI), Galway, when he started his full-time studies there in the autumn of 2006. Although expressing concern that he might be a "distraction" to other students at NUIG, he attended lectures like everyone else. Speaking the week after filming his last episode of The West Wing, he said, "I'm very serious about it." He once said, "I never went to college when I was young and am looking forward to giving it a try . . . at age 65!"^[51] On September 1, 2006, Sheen was among the first to register as a student at NUI Galway.^[52] He left the University after completing a semester.

Sheen maintains links with Galway and "heartily" supported Michael D. Higgins in the Irish presidential election, 2011, having become a "dear friend" of Higgins while studying there.^[53]

Legal troubles[link]

In an Actors Studio interview with James Lipton, Sheen admitted to being arrested 64 times for protests. "I don't look forward to being arrested and I don't go anywhere to get arrested, I really don't. I never know what's gonna happen at the time and sometimes... you have to do it because you cannot not do it and be honest with yourself," Sheen said in the interview.^{[attribution needed]} Since then, Sheen has been arrested two more times for protests.

On April 1, 2007, Sheen was arrested, with 38 other activists, for trespassing at the Nevada Test Site at a Nevada Desert Experience event protesting the site.^[54]

Religion and beliefs[link]

Sheen is a devout Roman Catholic, having had his faith restored by a series of meaningful conversations in Paris in 1981 with Terrence Malick, the director of Sheen’s breakthrough film, Badlands (1973).^[9][16][18]

Sheen is pro-life.^[55] He discussed his views in a 2011 interview with Raidió Teilifís Éireann in which he said his wife was conceived through a rape and he says had her mother aborted her, or dumped her in the Ohio River as she had considered, his wife would not exist. He also talked about three of his grandchildren whose parents were unmarried when they were born, saying his sons "were not happy at the time but they came to love these children. We have three grown grandchildren, two of them are married, they’re some of the greatest source of joy in our lives."^[56][57] He has drawn criticism for his continuous support for Democratic pro-choice politicians and also for portraying a fictional pro-choice President in a TV series. He stated recently that he supports same-sex marriage, unlike the Catholic Church.^[58]

Awards and honors[link]

In the spring of 1989, Sheen was named honorary mayor of Malibu, California. He promptly marked his appointment with a decree proclaiming the area "a nuclear-free zone, a sanctuary for aliens and the homeless, and a protected environment for all life, wild and tame".^[59] Some local citizens were angered by the decree, and the Malibu Chamber of Commerce met in June of that year to consider revoking his title, but voted unanimously to retain him.^[60]

While Sheen claims he deliberately failed the entrance exam for the University of Dayton so that he could pursue his acting career, he still has an affinity for UD, and is seen drinking from a "Dayton Flyers" coffee mug during several episodes of The West Wing. Sheen also developed an ongoing relationship with Wright State University, where he performed Love Letters as a benefit for scholarships in the Department of Theatre, Dance and Motion Pictures, and hosted a trip of donors to the set of The West Wing with the department's chair, W. Stuart McDowell, in September 2001. The Sheen/Estevez & Augsburger Scholarship Fund has since attracted over $100,000 in scholarships in the arts for students in need at WSU since its inception in 2000.^[13] Sheen also has a great affinity for the University of Notre Dame and in 2008 was awarded the Laetare Medal,^[61] the highest honor bestowed on American Catholics, in May 2008 at the school's commencement.

Sheen received six Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance on The West Wing, for which he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actor in TV-Drama, as well as two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series, and was part of the cast that received two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

In his acting career, Sheen has been nominated for ten Emmy Awards, winning one. He has also earned eight nominations for Golden Globe Awards. Sheen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1500 Vine Street.^[62]

In 2001 Sheen won a TV Guide Award for Actor of the Year in a Drama Series for The West Wing.^[63] In the animated Nickelodeon movie, TV show and TV spin-off of The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, there was a character named Sheen Estevez, which is Sheen's original last name – Estévez – and working last name, Sheen.

Sheen was the 2003 recipient of the Marquette University Degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa for his work on social and Catholic issues.^[64]

Filmography[link]

Documentaries[link]

Television and video[link]

Radio[link]

First appearing on A Prairie Home Companion on November 11, 2004, Sheen has since become a frequent guest performer, with over a dozen episodes since 2007.^[65]

Video games[link]

References[link]