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Martin Sheen

Martin SheenAKA Ramón Gerard Antonio Estevez

Born: 3-Aug-1940
Birthplace: Dayton, OH

Gender: Male
Religion: Roman Catholic
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor, Activist
Party Affiliation: Democratic

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: The West Wing

His father was a Spaniard who was denied entry to America due to lingering anti-Spanish sentiment from the Spanish-American War. Instead he sailed to Cuba, where he toiled in sugarcane fields for several years, then tried again to emigrate to America -- but said he was Cuban, and was allowed to stay. Settling in Ohio, he met and married an immigrant from Ireland whose family had been involved with the Irish Republican Army. They had twelve children, two of whom died at birth. Born Ramón Estevez, Martin Sheen was the seventh of their ten children who lived.

Due to complications in delivery, the doctor had to drag him from his mother's womb with forceps, breaking bones in his left shoulder and leaving his left arm with limited lateral movement. His left eye is also noticeably higher than his right eye.

For as long as he can remember, Sheen wanted to be an actor, and when he graduated from high school, he decided to move to the bright lights of New York. His father disapproved, but his parish priest loaned him the funds for his ticket to New York, where Sheen delivered newspapers, worked as a soda jerk, and swept the floor at an off-off-Broadway playhouse, while taking acting lessons in his spare time. Auditioning where he worked as a janitor, he won his first professional role starring in The Connection, a play considered controversial for its vulgar language and raw depiction of heroin use. After the play closed he went back to sweeping floors, but eventually landed some small roles on Route 66, Naked City, and The Outer Limits. His Broadway debut, 1964's Never Live Over a Pretzel Factory, closed in a week, but Sheen bounced back with five years of steady work on the soap opera As the World Turns.

In his early movie roles, he often played troubled young men, most memorably in his feature film debut, The Incident in 1967, an excellent but generally forgotten film featuring Sheen as a psycho terrorizing Ed McMahon and Ruby Dee on a New York subway car. He was a bona fide movie star after playing the Charles Starkweatheresque killer in Terrence Malick's Badlands with Sissy Spacek. He played Hal Holbrook's lover in That Certain Summer, the doomed WWII deserter in The Execution of Private Slovik with Ned Beatty, the famous gangster in The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd, Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in The Missiles of October, a leering pedophile in The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane with Jodie Foster, and he gave perhaps his best performance in Apocalypse Now, as the assassin sent by assassins to assassinate Marlon Brando.

While filming Apocalypse, the 38-year-old Sheen suffered a heart attack, and over the next few years he reassessed his life, ending his use of drugs, cutting back on alcohol, and becoming much more politically active. He credits the guidance of longtime friend Malick for helping him find his way. In the years since, he has tended toward roles as leaders, often in films with a social statement to make. He played Watergate good guy John Dean in Blind Ambition, the man destined to start World War III in The Dead Zone with Christopher Walken, President John F. Kennedy in the mini-series Kennedy, the working-stiff father of criminal stockbroker Charlie Sheen in Wall Street, the grieving son in Da with Barnard Hughes, Confederate General Robert E. Lee in Gettysburg, the fictional President with principles on TV's The West Wing, young cop Leonardo DiCaprio's mentor in The Departed, and an aging, depressed guest on a bad night at the Ambassador Hotel in Bobby.

Two of Sheen's sons, Charlie and Emilio Estevez, are famous actors, and his other two children, son Ramon and daughter Renée, while less famous, also earn their living as actors. The elder Sheen's brother Joe Estevez has carved out an extensive career as leading man and character actor in more than 100 low-budget horror and action efforts like Beach Babes from Beyond with Burt Ward, The Roller Blade Seven with Karen Black, and Toad Warrior with Jill Kelly. Sheen and his brother Estevez look so much alike that while Sheen was hospitalized with his heart attack Estevez played his role in a few minor moments of Apocalypse Now. Estevez and Sheen have played brothers on screen three times, in The California Kid with Vic Morrow and Nick Nolte, The Story of Pretty Boy Floyd with Kim Darby, and Flatland with Kristen Bell.

Sheen adopted his stage name as a tribute to Catholic Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, and has been arrested dozens of times for acts of civil disobedience, protesting for assorted causes the Bishop would approve of. He has slept on sidewalks to raise awareness and funds for homelessness, and has spoken and marched against abortion, capital punishment, euthanasia, and American wars against Iraq. "I do it," he says, "because I can't seem to live with myself if I do not. I don't know any other way to be."

Father: Francisco Estevez (machinery inspector, b. 2-Jun-1898, d. 26-Oct-1974)
Mother: Mary Ann Phalen (b. 22-May-1903, d. 1-Aug-1951)
Sister: Carmen Estevez (teacher)
Brother: Manuel Estevez (b. 14-Dec-1929, d. Aug-1968)
Brother: Michael Jude Estevez (b. 4-Aug-1933, d. 12-Jul-1981)
Brother: Conrad Joseph Estevez (b. 26-Mar-1935, d. 9-Nov-1998)
Brother: Joe Estevez (actor, b. 13-Feb-1950)
Wife: Janet (Templeton) Sheen (m. 23-Dec-1961)
Son: Emilio Estevez (actor-director, b. 12-May-1962)
Son: Ramon Estevez (stage actor, b. 3-Aug-1963)
Son: Charlie Sheen (actor, b. 3-Dec-1965)
Daughter: Renée Estevez (actress, b. 2-Apr-1967)

    High School: Chaminade-Julienne Catholic High School, Dayton, OH
    University: National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland (studying English Lit as of 2006)

    Emmy Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Murphy Brown (1994)
    Hollywood Walk of Fame 1500 Vine St.
    Endorsement of American Express (2003)
    Endorsement of Midas (2009-)
    Endorsement of Toyota (1996)
    Endorsement of Visa
    Disarm Education Fund National Advisory Board
    Gephardt for President
    Luminous Visions Board of Directors
    MoveOn.org
    Options Recovery Services Honorary Chair, Board of Directors
    Peace Action 50th Anniversary Honorary Host Committee (2007)
    Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights Board Member
    SAG-AFTRA Board of Directors
    Sea Shepherd Conservation Society Media and Arts Advisory Board
    Trespassing Vandenberg Air Force Base 7-Oct-2000
    Civil Disobedience (numerous arrests)
    Heart Attack
    Heart Bypass Operation Dec-2015
    Irish Ancestry Maternal side
    Spanish Ancestry Paternal side

    TELEVISION
    The West Wing Jed Bartlet (President)
    Celebrity Poker Showdown Contestant

    FILMOGRAPHY AS DIRECTOR
    Cadence (18-Jan-1991)
    Babies Having Babies (28-Jan-1986)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping (24-May-2016)
    Selma (11-Nov-2014)
    Trash (7-Oct-2014)
    Ask Me Anything (19-Apr-2014)
    Birth of the Living Dead (18-Oct-2013) · Himself
    Salinger (5-Sep-2013) · Himself
    Seeking a Friend for the End of the World (18-Jun-2012) · Frank
    The Amazing Spider-Man (13-Jun-2012) · Uncle Ben
    The Double (28-Oct-2011) · Highland
    Stella Days (9-Oct-2011)
    Wrinkles (19-Sep-2011) [VOICE]
    The Way (10-Sep-2010)
    The Kid: Chamaco (8-Oct-2009) · Dr. Frank Irwin
    Love Happens (15-Sep-2009) · Burke's Father-in-Law
    Imagine That (12-Jun-2009) · Dante D'Enzo
    Echelon Conspiracy (27-Feb-2009)
    They Killed Sister Dorothy (9-Mar-2008) · Narrator [VOICE]
    Talk to Me (12-Mar-2007)
    The Departed (4-Oct-2006)
    Bobby (5-Sep-2006)
    Bordertown (Apr-2006)
    Who Killed the Electric Car? (23-Jan-2006) · Narrator [VOICE]
    Tell Them Who You Are (11-Sep-2004) · Himself
    Catch Me If You Can (16-Dec-2002) · Roger Strong
    O (26-May-2001) · Coach Duke Goulding
    The Time Shifters (17-Oct-1999)
    Forget Me Never (3-Oct-1999)
    Storm (11-Sep-1999)
    A Texas Funeral (7-Sep-1999) · Grandpa Sparta
    Lost & Found (23-Apr-1999) · Millstone
    Free Money (3-Dec-1998) · New Warden
    No Code of Conduct (Dec-1998) · Bill Peterson
    A Letter from Death Row (17-Nov-1998)
    Voyage of Terror (20-Jun-1998)
    Shadrach (16-Apr-1998) · Narrator [VOICE]
    Monument Ave. (20-Jan-1998) · Hanlon
    Medusa's Child (16-Nov-1997)
    Spawn (1-Aug-1997) · Jason Wynn
    Hostile Waters (26-Jul-1997)
    Truth or Consequences, N.M. (2-May-1997)
    Entertaining Angels: The Dorothy Day Story (8-Sep-1996)
    The War at Home (6-Sep-1996)
    The American President (17-Nov-1995) · A. J. MacInerney
    Gospa (13-Oct-1995)
    The Break (1-Sep-1995)
    Captain Nuke and the Bomber Boys (1995)
    Dillinger and Capone (1995)
    Roswell (31-Jul-1994)
    Trigger Fast (1994)
    Hits! (1994)
    A Matter of Justice (7-Nov-1993)
    Gettysburg (8-Oct-1993)
    Hear No Evil (26-Mar-1993)
    Queen (14-Feb-1993)
    When the Bough Breaks (1993)
    The Killing Box (1993)
    Touch and Die (1992)
    Born Wild (1992)
    The Maid (2-Aug-1991)
    Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse (May-1991) · Himself
    Cadence (18-Jan-1991)
    Beverly Hills Brats (6-Oct-1989)
    Cold Front (29-Sep-1989) · John Hyde
    Beyond the Stars (31-Mar-1989)
    Nightbreaker (8-Mar-1989)
    Judgment in Berlin (6-May-1988) · Herbert J. Stern
    Da (29-Apr-1988)
    Wall Street (11-Dec-1987) · Carl Fox
    Siesta (11-Nov-1987)
    Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (Oct-1987) [VOICE]
    The Believers (10-Jun-1987) · Cal Jamison
    Conspiracy: The Trial of the Chicago 8 (16-May-1987)
    Out of the Darkness (12-Oct-1985)
    The Fourth Wise Man (30-Mar-1985)
    The Atlanta Child Murders (10-Feb-1985)
    Consenting Adult (4-Feb-1985)
    Broken Rainbow (1985) · Narrator [VOICE]
    The Guardian (20-Oct-1984)
    Firestarter (11-May-1984) · Capt. Hollister
    Man, Woman and Child (18-Nov-1983)
    The Dead Zone (21-Oct-1983) · Greg Stillson
    That Championship Season (Feb-1983)
    Enigma (Jan-1983)
    Gandhi (6-Dec-1982) · Walker
    In the Custody of Strangers (26-May-1982) · Frank Caldwell
    Loophole (Mar-1981)
    The Final Countdown (9-Jul-1980) · Warren Lasky
    Apocalypse Now (15-Aug-1979) · Capt. Willard
    Blind Ambition (20-May-1979)
    Eagle's Wing (1979) · Pike
    The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane (25-Dec-1976) · Frank Hallet
    The Cassandra Crossing (18-Dec-1976)
    Sweet Hostage (10-Oct-1975)
    The Missiles of October (18-Dec-1974)
    The California Kid (25-Sep-1974)
    The Execution of Private Slovik (13-Mar-1974)
    The Conflict (29-Nov-1973)
    Badlands (15-Oct-1973) · Kit
    Letters from Three Lovers (3-Oct-1973)
    Pursuit (12-Dec-1972)
    Rage (22-Nov-1972)
    That Certain Summer (1-Nov-1972)
    Pickup on 101 (May-1972)
    No Drums, No Bugles (23-Feb-1972)
    Catch-22 (24-Jun-1970) · Dobbs
    The Andersonville Trial (17-May-1970) · Capt. Williams
    The Subject Was Roses (13-Oct-1968) · Timmy Cleary
    The Incident (5-Nov-1967)


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