What You Didn’t Know about Charlie Sheen

 

The always controversial and sometimes tigerblood winning actor of Spanish and Irish descent, Charlie Sheen was born Carlos Irwin Estévez.

Growing up, his actor father Ramón Antonio Gerardo Estévez also known as Martin Sheen, had bought him and his brother, Emilio Estévez, a Super 8 camera to make home films with their friends and other future actors Tom Cruise, Rob and Chad Lowe, as well as Sean and Chris Penn.

 

It wasn’t long before Sheen decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and become an actor himself. After a few uncredited roles in films that his father starred in, Sheen earned his stripes in films like “Platoon” and “Wall Street” in the 1980s and “Major League” and “Being John Malkovich” in the 1990s.

However, the Hollywood lifestyle started to plague Sheen and he fell into the trappings of drugs. By 1998, he was hospitalized for a cocaine overdose, which stalled his movie career.

After going into rehab, Sheen started the 2000s strong by becoming an incredible television presence.

In 2000, Sheen replaced Michael J. Fox on “Spin City” and later won a Golden Globe for his role as Charlie Crawford.

Shortly afterwards Sheen had his own sitcom, “Two and a Half Men,” and he received several more Golden Globe and Emmy nominations. By 2010, Sheen was the highest paid actor on television, making nearly 2 million per episode.

Despite his professional successes, his home life was a mess and eventually threatened his career. After three broken marriages, losing custody of four children, a broken engagement and accusations of domestic violence and  drug abuse, Sheen had a public breakdown.

In 2011, he called the creator of Two and a Half, Chuck Lorre, derogatory names after his third failed attempt at rehab resulting in him getting fired from the popular show.

After finding out that he was going to become a grandfather by his eldest daughter in 2012, Sheen started getting his life back on track.

He scored another hit show with “Anger Management,” regained temporary custody of his twins from his third marriage and was allowed to visit his two daughters from his second marriage.

Not only has he refocused his life on his children, and grandchild, but he has been and continues to be personally involved in several charities.

He has raised and given money towards AIDS research, he  hosted a charity for rescue workers of the 9/11 attacks and he donated money from his “Truth” tour for the Japanese Earthquake relief fund.

Also he donated the largest cash sum to the USO ($1 million) and started to raise awareness and funds for The Association of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Research, Awareness and Support.

Other Facts

• Charlie Sheen is one of the few recipients of the rare Aids for Aids Angel Award (AFA Angel Award)
• Sheen is a published poet
• He has appeared on film with all of siblings, his father and ex-wife Denise Richards
• He initially dreamt of becoming a shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds
• He made a public announcement in 2015 that he was HIV positive
• Sheen is responsible for actress Winona Horowitz changing her name to Winona Ryder