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Spin City
Background:
An American actor since the 1980s, Charlie Sheen bounced back to attract the
attention of the public with his starring role of Deputy Mayor Charlie Crawford
in the successful sitcom “Spin City” (2000-2002). Due to his virtuoso
performance, square-jawed Sheen was handed a 2000 Golden Globe. Sheen also
received recognition for his bright portrayal of hedonistic jingle writer
Charlie Harper in another hit series, “Two and a Half Men” (2003- ), where he
earned nominations at the Golden Globes (2004) and with SAG (2005).
On the wide screen, Sheen rose to prominence after playing the narrator-grunt of
Oliver Stone’s autobiographical Vietnam War film Platoon (1986) and as Michael
Douglas’ dishonest protégé Bud Fox in Stone’s crime/drama Wall Street (1987).
Once of Hollywood’s hottest young actors, Sheen’s later role of Richard Brewer
in Young Guns (1988) won a Western Heritage Award. Despite his declining career
in the 1990s, Sheen still enjoyed some successes as Major League (1989), Hot
Shots (1991) and its continuation, Hot Shots, Part Deux, (1993), The Three
Musketeers (1993) and Money Talks (1997). The actor’s more recent film credits
include Rated X (2000), Good Advice (2001), David Zucker’s Scary Movie 3 (2003)
and The Big Bounce (2004). The animated feature Foodfight will follow in the
year of 2006.
As for his private life, Sheen is currently rumored to have rekindled his
relationship with estranged wife Denise Richards. Sheen married Richards on June
15, 2002, but they separated in March 2005 while his wife was pregnant with
their second child. After strongly denying the rumors, in November 2005, Sheen
confirmed he and Richards were back together and Sheen has been seen out and
about with his wedding ring on. Commenting about their comeback, he said,
“Things are going really well. I don’t want to go into details, but I can tell
you that.”
The couple shares two daughters, Sam Sheen (born in 2004) and Lola Rose Sheen
(born in 2005). Sheen has one more daughter, Cassandra Sheen (born in 1984),
from his relationship with high school girlfriend Paula Profitt.
Sheen was once the husband of Donna Peele, a model whom he married in 1995, but
they divorced a year later. He was also romantically involved with a number of
Hollywood personalities, including Robin Wright Penn, Kelly Preston, Brittany
Ashland and Valerie Barnes, but his long-term relationship with adult-film
actress Ginger Lynn, in the late 1990s, garnered Sheen the most media attention.
The Machine
Childhood and Family:
Son to prominent film actor Martin Sheen and artist Janet Sheen, Carlos Irwin
Estevez, whose stage name is Charlie Sheen, was born on September 3, 1965, in
New York, New York. Charlie has two older brothers, Ramon Estevez (born 1963)
and Emilio Estevez (born 1962), and one younger sister named Renee Estevez (born
1967). Ramon, Emilio and Reene are also actors.
Raised in Santa Monica, Charlie attended Santa Monica High School and became
deeply involved with baseball. Outside baseball, Charlie was a disobedient
student who frequently skipped classes. More serious incidents happened when he
was arrested for marijuana possession and credit card forgery. He was finally
expelled from high school before he could graduate.
On the more positive side, Charlie developed a strong passion for film at a very
young age. Appearing in his family’s home movies when he was a kindergarten
student, nine-year-old Charlie made his onscreen debut as an extra in the
popular TV movie The Execution of Private Slovik, starring his father. As a
teenager, he developed a fascination with film-making, producing and directing
countless Super-8 movies and videos with childhood buddies Sean and Chris Penn,
and Rob and Chad Lowe. In his late teens, at age 19, Charlie professionally
began his film career.
Charlie Sheen, who carried the nickname The Machine, was ready to begin a family
around his 30th birthday when he decided to tie the knot with model Donna Peele
on September 3, 1995. The marriage, however, briefly lasted only a year. Sheen
later married actress Denise Richards on June 15, 2002. Sadly, his actress wife
filed for divorce in March 2, 2005. Charlie and Richards share two beautiful
daughters, Sam Sheen (born on March 9, 2004) and Lola Rose Sheen (born on June
1, 2005). Sheen also has a daughter named Cassandra Sheen (born in 1984) from
his romance with Paula Profitt.
Platoon
Career:
Growing up in a showbiz family, Charlie Sheen was destined to be an actor from
an early age. When he was 9, Sheen made his television acting debut as an extra
in the NBC hit series The Execution of Private Slovik (1974), starring his
father, Martin Sheen. Five years later, Sheen appeared on the big screen in
Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now (1979), which also starred his father.
During his teenage years, Sheen’s interest switched from acting to filmmaking.
Working with fellow classmates and childhood friends Rob and Chad Lowe, and Sean
and Chris Penn, he made more than 200 Super-8 and video film shorts. As he
entered his late teens, Sheen decided to follow in the footsteps of his father
and older brother, Emilio Estevez, to pursue a career in acting.
After his early performances as a TV and film extra, 19-year-old Sheen received
his first real acting job when he was cast as Matt Eckert in the Soviet invasion
thriller movie Red Dawn (1984), directed by John Milius. It was followed by
several TV movie appearances such as Silence of the Heart (1984), The Fourth
Wise Man (1985) and Out of the Darkness (1985), before Sheen landed a first
starring role in Penelope Spheeris’ The Boys Next Door (1985). He then attracted
some attention as an insightful high school jock, Cappie, in Lucas (1986), made
an unforgettable cameo in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986) and appeared in Emilio
Estevez’s directorial debut Wisdom (1986).
His rising status was further confirmed when Sheen was signed to star in Oliver
Stone’s autobiographical Vietnam War film Platoon (1986), opposite Tom Berenger
and Willem Dafoe. As Pvt. Chris Taylor, a young soldier on a tour of duty in
Vietnam, Sheen offered a brutally realistic portrayal that earned him critical
raves from critics. As the film took home four Oscars, Sheen subsequently became
an immediate star. He delivered another great performance in the following year
when Stone hired Sheen to play Michael Douglas’ crooked protégé, Bud Fox, for
his crime/drama Wall Street (1987). Those two films launched Sheen’s status as
one of Hollywood’s hottest young actors.
During the remainder of decade, Sheen was involved in various projects that
ranged widely in genre, popularity and quality. He was one of the ensemble cast
of the youth-oriented Western Young Guns (1988, played Richard Brewer), in which
he nabbed a 1989 Western Heritage, gave a remarkable performance as Hap Felsch
in John Sayles’ fascinating version of the 1919 Black Sox baseball scandal in
Eight Men Out (1988, opposite John Cusack, Christopher Lloyd and D.B. Sweeney)
and enjoyed victory as a major league baseball pitcher nicknamed “Wild Thing” in
the sport/comedy Major League (1989).
1990 saw Sheen make six films, including Catchfire, Cadence, Courage Mountain,
the action/adventure Navy SEALS, the unremarkable Men at Work and Clint
Eastwood’s The Rookie. Sheen had another hit on his hands with the surprise
comedy Hot Shots (1991), a weird parody of the 1986’s Top Gun, in which he was
cast as pilot Topper Harley. The victory led to the anticipated sequel Hot
Shots, Part Deux, in 1993. The same year, Sheen again experienced triumph as one
of the titular swordsmen in The Three Musketeers (1993), a role that also
further established his reputation as a sex symbol. Due to his accomplishments,
the actor received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1993.
As he benefited from the highly successful film projects in the late 1980s and
early 1990s, Sheen became addicted to alcohol and drugs, and was frequently in
and out of rehabilitation centers for many years. The destructive, bad habits,
united with his fondness for call girls, as well as his other wrongdoings
(including his 1996 battery of former girlfriend Brittany Ashland) made his
career collapse and he was finally eliminated from the Hollywood A-list actors.
Sheen tried hard to clean up his image in 1996 by saying he had “discovered
God.” As for acting career, Sheen returned with a well-received guest starring
role as a naval officer named Ryan, who falls in love with Phoebe (Lisa Kudrow),
on the hit sitcom Friends (1996). Also in 1996, he won the starring role of Zane
Zaminski in the sci-fi flick The Arrival, but the film was a box office failure.
After Shadow Conspiracy (1997), Sheen was back in the Hollywood mainstream with
the box office smash Money Talks (1997), a comedy that paired him with rising
comic Chris Tucker. Unfortunately, in 1998, he was hospitalized because of a
drug overdose.
“I nearly died, which is about as bad as you can get. I'm totally convinced that
drugs and alcohol brought me very close to death two or three times, and its
more luck than anything else that I'm still alive. My spirit was dying and I
believe when your spirit dies, it's only a matter of time before your body
follows.” Charlie Sheen on his near fatal drug overdose
Sheen continued to take on roles in films like Postmortem (1998), Free Money
(1998, alongside Marlon Brando, Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland), No Code of
Conduct (1998), Five Aces (1999) and Being John Malkovich (1999), but none of
the movies did much to improve his career. In 2000, after a 10-year separation
with brother Emilio due to Sheen’s drug abuse, the siblings reunited to star as
real life brothers Jim and Artie Mitchell, in the Mitchell brothers’ biopic
Rated X, a film which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival before
broadcasted on TV. However, it was his outstanding performance in the
politically-themed sitcom “Spin City” that helped Sheen reach his celebrity
status once again. Replacing Michael J. Fox to star as deputy mayor Charlie
Crawford, Sheen not only revived his own career but he also re-energized the
fading series. As the show became a hit, the star nabbed a Golden Globe for Best
Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy in 2002.
While working on the series, Sheen costarred opposite his then-wife Denise
Richards in the mildly amusing comedy Good Advice (2001) and when his contract
with Spin City ended in 2002, Sheen moved to another popular sitcom “Two and a
Half Men” in the following year. Delivering a fine turn as self-indulgent jingle
writer Charlie Harper, who takes in his newly divorced brother (Jon Cryer) and
his 10-year-old nephew (Angus T. Jones), Sheen earned a nomination for Best Lead
Actor at the Golden Globes in 2004. Recently, the role also garnered Sheen a SAG
nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
On the silver screen, Sheen appeared together with Richards in the panned horror
spoof Scary Movie 3 (2003), directed by David Zucker, before being featured as
the enforcer for a Hawaiian development mogul (Gary Sinise) in The Big Bounce
(2004). In 2006, Sheen can add an animated film by Lawrence Kasanoff, Foodfight
(2006, voice for Dex Dogtective), to his resume. He will also work with Hilary
Duff, Greg Ellis and Haylie Duff for this upcoming project.
Awards:
