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Roots -

Martin Sheen was born Ramón Gerard Antonio Estévez on August 3, 1940, in Dayton, Ohio.

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Family -

Both Sheen’s parents were immigrants in the US. His mother (who died when he was 11) was Irish, and his father was Spanish.

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Family -

Martin Sheen was the seventh of 10 children. He had eight brothers and a sister.

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Health issues -

Sheen suffered an injury at birth, leaving him with a shorter left arm with limited movement. A few years later, he contracted polio and was bedridden for a year.

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Religion -

Martin Sheen was raised as a Catholic and joined the Catholic Worker Movement in his twenties. A movement “committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, and the Works of Mercy as a way of life” that over decades has “protested injustice, war, and violence of all forms.”

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Name change -

The actor adopted the stage name Martin Sheen when he started applying for acting jobs. He did so because he had previously experienced discrimination for having a Spanish name.

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Name change -

His stage name is a combination of a CBS casting director’s name (Robert Dale Martin) and the name of a Catholic televangelist, Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen (pictured).

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'Badlands' -

The actor had his big break in 1973 with ‘Badlands.’ Sheen played Kit, a James Dean-esque character who went on a killing spree with his teen girlfriend.

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Missed role -

Sheen auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone in ‘The Godfather,’ but Al Pacino ended up getting the part instead. Nonetheless, Sheen would later get a chance to work with director Francis Ford Coppola.

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War film star -

In 1979, Martin Sheen starred in the Francis Ford Coppola classic ‘Apocalypse Now.’

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'Apocalypse Now' -

Sheen played Captain Benjamin L. Willard in this film set in the Vietnam war. The actor was battling alcoholism at the time, and was reportedly intoxicated while filming many scenes.

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'Apocalypse Now' -

The whole movie production was surrounded by chaos. Sheen sliced open a finger after smashing a mirror while shooting the opening scene, and at one point he even suffered a heart attack!

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'Apocalypse Now' -

Despite all this, 'Apocalypse Now' remains one of the actor’s most iconic performances.

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‘The West Wing’ -

Martin Sheen played President Josiah Bartlet in the TV show ‘The West Wing’ from 1999 to 2006. This was also a huge success for him.

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President -

Sheen has actually played American presidents three other times in addition to ‘The West Wing.’ He also did so in the miniseries ‘Kennedy’ (1983), the film ‘The Dead Zone’ (1983), and the TV movie ‘Medusa's Child’ (1997).

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‘Catch Me If You Can’ -

The 2002 movie features an amazing performance by the actor as Roger Strong.

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'The Departed' -

In 2006, we could see the actor playing Captain Queenan in Martin Scorsese’s movie ‘The Departed.’

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'The Way' -

Mourning the death of his son, Tom (Martin Sheen) embarks on a life-changing journey through the Camino de Santiago. This 2010 movie was directed, produced, and written by his son, Emilio Estevez (himself an actor known for Brat Pack films, the 'Mighty Ducks' franchise, and many more hits).

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Netflix show -

Very recently, you could see him play Robert Hanson in the Netflix series ‘Grace and Frankie.’

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Family -

The actor has been married to Janet Elizabeth Estévez, or Janet Sheen as she's professionally known, since 1961.

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Family -

He has four children: Renée, Emilio, Ramón, and Carlos.

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Family -

His son Carlos also followed in his father's footsteps and changed his name when he started working as an actor. You probably know him as Charlie Sheen!

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Activism -

The actor has been involved in activism for many years, particularly concerning social and environmental causes.

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Activism - He has been arrested over 60 times for his participation in social and political protests, marches, demonstrations, and boycotts.

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Activism - He has participated in rallies ranging from protests against the US war in Iraq to protests demanding that the US close the U.S. Army School of the Americas.

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Honorary Mayor -

In 1989, Sheen was appointed honorary mayor of Malibu, California. Shortly after, he declared Malibu a ''nuclear-free zone, a sanctuary for aliens and the homeless and a protected environment for all life, wild and tame.''

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Hollywood Walk of Fame -

Sheen received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 22, 1989.

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Recent work -

You can catch the latest of Martin Sheen in the movie ‘12 Mighty Orphans’ (2021) and in the final season of 'Grace and Frankie.'

Sources: (The Progressive) (Catholic Worker Movement)

See also: Then and now: How cinema's finest actors have aged

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