Martin Sheen Biography

Much in the star's back catalogue is unmemorable...but he's had enough good moments to place him firmly in the Hollywood firmament.

Born Ramon Estevez to Irish and Galician immigrant parents, Sheen swapped country home for the bright lights of NYC, apprenticing at Judith Malina and Julian Beck's Living Theatre.

His real breakthrough came as the amoral yet charismatic killer (still his favorite part) on the run with Sissy Spacek, in Terrence Malick's 'Badlands', in 1973.

Sheen then concentrated on small screen projects, before returning to the fray as the military assassin sent to terminate the command of a crazed Marlon Brando, in Ford Coppola's 'Apocalypse Now', in 1979, that remains his signature role.

Sheen rebounded from a heart-attack, while filming, with a renewed sense of what is important in life. He donated his $200,000 salary for his three weeks' work on 'Gandhi' to various charities, and his meeting with Mother Teresa, while filming in India, restored him to the active Catholicism of his youth.

Some of his more memorable work continued to develop his politician's persona' like his creepy turn as the villainous populist of David Cronenberg's, 'The Dead Zone'.

Sheen acted in many features during the 1990s, but his work for the small screen is what really stood out. 'Badlands' and 'Apocalypse Now' not withstanding, his legacy may well be as a TV actor, most recently as US President Josiah Bartlet, in 'The West Wing'.

He picked up six Emmy nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in the Oval Office, in addition to a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actor in TV-Drama, and two SAG Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series.

Sheen is also known for his own robust support of liberal political causes. He also supports the Democrats for Life of America's Pregnant Women Support Act. In 2004, he campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean, and then later supported nominee John Kerry.

He married art student Janet Templeton in 1961, and they have four children, three sons and a daughter, all of whom are actors: Emilio Estévez, Ramón Luis Estévez, Charlie Sheen and Renée Estévez.