Charlie Sheen

Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Irwin Estévez, 3.9.1965)

Charlie Sheen is an American actor who rose to fame in the 1980s with films such as Platoon and Wall Street.

Charlie Sheen: Childhood

Charlie Sheen was born in New York City, to the actor Martin Sheen and his partner, the artist Janet Templeton. Martin had adopted the stage name of Sheen, after the Catholic theologian Fulton J. Sheen. Charlie then copied his father's stage name when he took up acting. The family moved to California and Charlie attended Santa Monica High School.

At school, Sheen showed a keen interest in both sport and drama. He was friends with fellow actors Rob Lowe and Chris Penn and would make Super-8 films with them. Charlie Sheen did not graduate from high school, as he was expelled shortly beforehand, for his low grades and lack of attendance.

His brothers, Emilio Estevez and Ramon Estevez and sister, Renée Estevez are also actors.

Charlie Sheen: Acting Career

Charlie Sheen's earliest foray into acting was at the age of nine, when he appeared in the movie The Execution of Private Slovik with his father in 1974. 10 years later, he landed a role in Red Dawn alongside Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey. Two years later, Sheen and Grey would appear on-screen together again in the cult hit Ferris Bueller's Day Off. The film was directed by John Hughes, who also directed The Breakfast Club and Pretty In Pink.

Charlie Sheen's breakthrough role came in 1986, when he starred in Platoon, a drama about the Vietnam War, which also featured Willem Dafoe and Johnny Depp. Sheen's next movie was a return to sharing the screen with his father, as he had done as a child. Wall Street, like Platoon, was directed by Oliver Stone. The film detailed the greed and excess of young stockbrokers and starred Michael Douglas and Daryl Hannah.

Oliver Stone was due to cast Charlie Sheen in a lead role in Born on the Fourth of July. However, without telling Sheen, he re-cast the role with Tom Cruise. Sheen's brother, Emilio Estevez broke the news to him and as a result, Charlie Sheen refused to ever work with Oliver Stone again.

In 1987, Charlie Sheen appeared in Grizzly II: the Predator, a low-budget horror movie. The following year, he starred alongside his brother Emilio, as well as Keifer Sutherland, in Young Guns and in 1990, the brothers worked together again on Men at Work. That same year, he also worked with Clint Eastwood in the cop film The Rookie.

Charlie Sheen's first attempt at screenwriting came in 1997, with Discovery Mars, which went straight to video and focused on the question of whether or not there is life on Mars.

In 1998, Sheen starred in an action movie entitled No Code of Conduct, which was directed by Bret Michaels.

Following this action movie, Sheen worked in a string of comedy films, including Money Talks and Hot Shots! which was a spoof of films like Top Gun and also starred Lloyd Bridges. In the 1999 film Being John Malkovich, Charlie Sheen plays himself. The Spike Jonze-directed film also stars John Cusak and Cameron Diaz.

After appearing in the horror spoofs Scary Movie 3 and Scary Movie 4, Sheen worked on a number of TV shows. Firstly, he was cast to replace Michael J Fox in the sitcom Spin City, which ended in 2002. The next year, Charlie Sheen started playing Charlie Harper in the popular CBS comedy show Two and a Half Men, which frequently referenced Sheen's real-life 'bad-boy image'.

In 2008, Sheen took on the role of Dex Dogtective in the animated comedy Foodfight.

Charlie Sheen: Personal Life

Charlie Sheen has a daughter, Cassandra Estevez (b.1984) with his former partner Paula Profit.

In 1990, Charlie Sheen was engaged to Kelly Preston. However, their relationship ended shortly after he shot her in the arm, causing a minor injury that required stitches.

In 1993, Sheen testified at the court trial of the notorious Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss. It was revealed that Charlie Sheen had spent over $50,000 on prostitutes.

In 1995, Charlie Sheen married Donna Peele. The marriage only lasted one year. In 2002, he married the actress Denise Richards and they have two daughters, Sam Sheen (b. 2004) and Lola Sheen (b.2005). Four years later, they, too were divorced. Sheen then went on to marry Brooke Mueller the couple have twins named Bob and Max (b. 2009)