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 protégé 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 had many chapters yet to be written. 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 nomination 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 Leonard-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 pregnant.

Luckily for Sheen, the actor’s personal problems did not seem to have as much of a negative impact on his career the second time around. An extremely popular fixture within CBS’s powerful comedy line-up, Sheen received three consecutive Emmy nominations for Best Lead Actor in a Comedy Series for his role on “Two and a Half Men” in 2005, 2006 and 2007.

• Also Credited As:
  Carlos Irwin Estevez, Charles Sheen
• Born:
  Carlos Irwin Estevez on September 3, 1965 in Los Angeles, California
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Producer, Screenwriter, Poet

Family

• Brother: Emilio Estevez. born on May 12, 1962
• Brother: Ramon Estevez. older
• Daughter: Cassandra Sheen. born in 1984; mother, Paula Profitt, a high school girlfriend of Sheen's
• Daughter: Lola Sheen. born June 1, 2005; mother, Denise Richards
• Daughter: Sam Sheen. born March 9, 2004; mother, Denise Richards
• Father: Martin Sheen. born on August 3, 1940
• Mother: Janet Sheen.
• Sister: Renee Pilar Estevez. married to Jason Federico in October 1997

Significant Others

• Companion: Brooke Wolofsky. aka Brooke Allen, Brooke Mueller; met in April 2006; announced engagement July 2007
• Wife: Denise Richards. actress; first met while filming "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" (1993); began dating after Richards appeared on the ABC sitcom "Spin City" in 2001; announced engagement in January 2002; married June 15, 2002; filed for divorce in March 2005, while Richards was pregnant with their second child; couple reunited shortly after in November 2005; again filed for divorce in early 2006
• Wife: Denise Richards. first met during filming of "National Lampoon's Loaded Weapon 1" (1993); acted in "Good Advice" (2001); also appeared in recurring role on ABC's "Spin City" in 2001; announced engagement in January 2002; married in June 2002.
• Companion: Brittany Ashland. born c. 1972; adult film actor; filed assault charges against Sheen in 1996 to which he pleaded no contest; no longer together
• Companion: Dolly Fox. visited Sheen in the Philippines when he was shooting "Platoon"
• Companion: Ginger Lynn Allen. adult-film actor turned legit actor; dated off and on between 1990 and 1996
• Companion: Kelly Preston. broke off engagement on March 23, 1990; later married actor John Travolta
• Companion: Paula Profitt. high school girl friend and mother of daughter Cassandra
• Companion: Valerie Barnes. born c. 1975; dated from February 1997 to August 1997

Education

• Santa Monica High School, Santa Monica, California

Milestones

• 1974 First TV appearance at age nine as extra in the NBC TV-movie, "The Execution of Private Slovik", starring his father
• 1979 First film appearance, as extra in "Apocalypse Now", directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Martin Sheen
• 1984 Film acting debut, "Grizzly II--The Predator"
• 1984 TV-movie acting debut, "Silence of the Heart" (CBS)
• 1985 First starring role in Penelope Spheeris' "The Boys Next Door"
• 1985 TV guest spot, "No Day at the Beach", a WWII episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" (NBC)
• 1986 Appeared in brother Emilio Estevez's directorial debut "Wisdom"
• 1986 Breakthrough lead role in Oliver Stone's "Platoon"
• 1987 Starred in Stone's "Wall Street"; father played onscreen parent
• 1988 Contributed to the fine ensemble of "Eight Men Out", directed by John Sayles
• 1988 Had featured role in "Young Guns"
• 1989 Played major league baseball pitcher nicknamed 'Wild Thing' in "Major League"
• 1990 Acted with brother Emilio in "Men at Work"
• 1990 Checked into a drug and alcohol rehabilitation facility after reportedly suffering from exhaustion
• 1991 Acted with father and brother Ramon in "Cadence", the directorial debut of Martin Sheen
• 1991 Scored big as pilot Topper Harley in zany send-up of "flyboy" movies, "Hot Shots!"
• 1993 Played one of the titular swordsmen in "The Three Musketeers"
• 1993 Received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame
• 1993 Reprised his role of Topper Harley in the sequel "Hot Shots! Part Deux"
• 1994 Again played 'Wild Thing' in sequel "Major League II"
• 1994 Debut as executive producer. "The Chase", also starred
• 1995 Admitted paying notorious Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss in excess of $53,000 for 27 trysts with her employees
• 1996 Arrested and charged with assault of former girlfriend Brittany Ashland (who reportedly required medical attention, including stitches); released on $20,000 bail (December)
• 1996 Had lead role in the sci-fi flick "The Arrival"
• 1997 Acted opposite Chris Tucker in "Money Talks"
• 1997 Pled no contest to battery with serious bodily injury in matter of assault on Brittany Ashland; received one-year suspended sentence and two years probation; fined $2,800;
• 1998 Hospitalized after a drug overdose (May); found in violation of his parole; was given one additional year of probation (extending his parole to June 2000) and was expected to perform 300 hours of community service and attend counseling sessions
• 1999 Acted in "Free Money" (filmed in 1997) with Marlon Brando, Mira Sorvino and Donald Sutherland; aired on Starz!
• 2000 Executive produced, co-scripted (with Michaels) and starred with father in Michaels' "No Code of Conduct"; aired on USA Network; filmed in 1997
• 2000 Replaced Michael J. Fox as the star of the ABC sitcom "Spin City" starting in fall
• 2000 Starred with Emilio Estevez in "Rated X", a Showtime biopic of the Mitchell brothers; screened at Sundance Film Festival before airing on TV
• 2001 Starred opposite Denise Richards in "Good Advice"; aired on HBO in lieu of a theatrical release
• 2003 Co-starred with Jon Cryer in the sitcom "Two and a Half Men"; earned Golden Globe (2004, 2005), SAG (2005) and Emmy (2007) nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy Series
• 2004 Cast with Owen Wilson and Morgan Freeman in "The Big Bounce"
• 2006 Earned an Emmy nomination for Best Actor in a Comedy Series for "Two and a Half Men"
• 2006 Launched clothing line for kids, called Sheen Kidz
• Formed production company Sheen-Michaels Entertainment with Bret Michaels, ex-lead singer of Poison
• Produced and directed over 200 Super-8 and video film shorts, including the 16mm "R.P.G."
• Wrote, produced and directed 35mm short, "R.P.G. II"

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