ACTOR
Martin Sheen
- Known for
- Badlands (1973), Spawn (1997), The American President (1995), Grace and Frankie (2015)
59 archived facts 4 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
Martin Sheen is an actor best known for Badlands, Spawn and The American President.
All facts (59)
- #001
Martin Sheen suffered a serious heart attack during the filming of Apocalypse Now (1979).
- #002
Martin Sheen never officially changed his name as a first step. On all identification and legal documents his name is still Ramon Estevez, and all of his children were born under that name. He answers to both names among friends, but his wife first met him as Martin (he did not tell her his real name until weeks later) and as a result still calls him that.
- #003
Martin Sheen can only put on his jacket by turning it over his head (like Bartlet in The West Wing (1999)). At birth his left arm was crushed with forceps and its lateral movement is limited.
- #004
Martin Sheen has been arrested more than 70 times, mostly because of liberal protests.
- #005
Because of complications during birth, Martin Sheen's left arm is 3 inches shorter than his right arm.
- #006
Martin Sheen is the father of Charlie Sheen, Emilio Estevez, Renée Estevez and Ramon Estevez (full birth name: Ramon Antonio Gerard Luis Estevez, Junior).
- #007
Martin Sheen considered his late The West Wing (1999) co-star John Spencer his best friend. Like Spencer, Sheen successfully overcame drug and alcohol addiction.
- #008
Martin Sheen publicly credited Carroll O'Connor with helping his son Charlie quit drugs and get back on the right path. He read one of the scriptures at Carroll's funeral.
- #009
Martin Sheen has memorized and can sing every Frank Sinatra song.
- #010
According to his friends and family, Martin Sheen is closer to his son Charlie than anyone else. In fact he and Charlie often appear together on screen, and Martin even played Charlie's on-screen father twice. He also appeared as an older "Charlie" in a credit card commercial.
- #011
Martin Sheen holds a three-year Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature, philosophy and oceanography from the National University of Ireland in Galway (NUIG).
- #012
Martin Sheen's mother, Mary Ann Phelan, was an Irish immigrant from Borrisokane in County Tipperary with IRA connections. His father, Francisco Estevez, was a Spaniard from Parderrubias, Galicia, who came to the United States via Cuba.
- #013
President Bartlet's habit of forgetting his staff members' names is a nod to Martin Sheen being known to be terrible at remembering the names of cast and crew members.
- #014
Martin Sheen auditioned for the role of Michael Corleone in The Godfather (1972). He was also considered for Tom Hagen.
- #015
Martin Sheen's father, Francisco Estevez, died shortly before the premiere of Blind Ambition (1979). Unable to attend the funeral, Martin mourned his father during the scene in which John Dean cries in his prison cell.
- #016
On Who Do You Think You Are? (2010), Martin Sheen found some interesting things about his family. He traced some of his father's ancestors in Spain and learned that his fourth great-grandfather was a Don who had an extramarital relationship with Martin's fourth great-grandmother and had six children with her. After further research they learned he was a judge and found a case he had brought against a girl who had a relationship with a clergyman and had an abortion. Incredibly, while doing the genealogy it turned out the girl was also his fourth great-grandmother. 150 years after the case, their second descendants married each other and became Martin's grandparents.
- #017
Martin Sheen deliberately dropped out of the college entrance exam at the University of Dayton so he could continue his acting career. His father did not wholeheartedly approve until he achieved popular success, and did not even see Martin's show until he saw him on screen in a horse-drawn carriage in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio.
- #018
Martin Sheen's admiration for Father Fulton J. Sheen led him to take the bishop's name for his acting career.
- #019
Martin Sheen is a strong advocate of closing the School of the Americas, a military base that trained Latin American soldiers (allegedly teaching torture and political terror techniques). Since 1998 he has taken part in a major protest every year.
- #020
Martin Sheen is the seventh of ten children; his parents met at a citizenship school in Dayton.
- #021
Martin Sheen has never been nominated for an Oscar.
- #022
Martin Sheen pleaded guilty and was sentenced to three years' probation for trespassing at an Air Force base during a protest against the United States' deployment of a missile defense system.
- #023
Martin Sheen underwent quadruple heart bypass surgery in December 2015.
- #024
Martin Sheen has played American presidents four times: Jed Bartlet in the series The West Wing (1999), in the TV film Medusa's Child (1997), as John F. Kennedy in the miniseries Kennedy (1983), and as a "future" president (in a premonition) named Greg Stilson in The Dead Zone (1983).
- #025
As an opponent of euthanasia, Martin Sheen recorded an ad in 2008 urging Washington State residents to vote no on Initiative 1000, which would have allowed doctor-assisted suicide for terminally ill patients. The initiative passed.
- #026
A fan and supporter of actor James Dean and his legacy, Martin Sheen worked to preserve the high school Dean attended in Fairmount, Indiana. He also visited Fairmount for Dean-related events.
- #027
Martin Sheen was one of 22 people arrested for crossing a line set up by the Air Force during an anti-militarization protest at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. He was charged with trespassing.
- #028
On August 22, 1989, Martin Sheen was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1500 Vine Street in Hollywood, California.
- #029
Martin Sheen played Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in The Missiles of October (1974) and President John F. Kennedy in the miniseries Kennedy (1983), making him one of three actors to have played both brothers. The other two are Cliff De Young and Kevin Anderson.
- #030
Because of his commitment to The West Wing (1999), Martin Sheen could not reprise the role of Robert E. Lee in Gods and Generals (2003), the prequel to Gettysburg (1993). The role instead went to Lee descendant Robert Duvall, who had appeared with Sheen in the popular Vietnam War film Apocalypse Now (1979).
- #031
Of all U.S. presidents, Martin Sheen admires Jimmy Carter the most.
- #032
Between 1962 and 1964, Martin Sheen lived at 30 Daniel Low Terrace in St. George, Staten Island, New York, in the building where Paul Newman had lived ten years earlier. His son Emilio was born on the kitchen floor.
- #033
Martin Sheen is mentioned alongside Steve McQueen and James Dean in the R.E.M. song "Electrolite."
- #034
Martin Sheen is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.
- #035
Martin Sheen is the older brother of actor Joe Estevez.
- #036
Martin Sheen currently lives in Malibu, California.
- #037
Martin Sheen was considered for the role of Sergeant Max Greevey on Law & Order (1990), which went to George Dzundza.
- #038
Martin Sheen shares two roles with Cliff Robertson: (1) Robertson played John F. Kennedy in PT 109 (1963), while Sheen played him in Kennedy (1983), and (2) Robertson played Ben Parker in Spider-Man (2002), Spider-Man 2 (2004) and Spider-Man 3 (2007), while Sheen played him in The Amazing Spider-Man (2012) and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (2014).
- #039
Martin Sheen has nine hobbies: golf, hiking, running, fishing, sailing, politics, poetry, reading and spending time with his family.
- #040
Martin Sheen ranked 5th on Tropopkin's list of the 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100].
- #041
Martin Sheen is the former father-in-law of Donna Peele, Denise Richards, Paula Abdul and Brooke Mueller.
- #042
Martin Sheen received an honorary degree (Doctor of Letters) from Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin (2003) during the opening of the school's new library, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website.
- #043
Martin Sheen is the grandfather of Taylor Estevez, Paloma Estevez, Lola Rose Sheen, Bob Sheen, Max Sheen and Cassandra Sheen.
- #044
In March 2004, Martin Sheen was among the supporters of Women's Lives. After learning of this, Feminists for Life, an organization that had named him a "Remarkable Pro-Life Man" in 2001, brought the matter to his attention, reporting that the March for Women's Lives was a pro-choice group. At his request, the March for Women's Lives removed his name from its list.
- #045
Martin Sheen was considered for the recurring role of Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), which went to William Sadler.
- #046
Martin Sheen voiced John Ratzenberger's part in Gandhi (1982).
- #047
Martin Sheen was stunned in Florida by Democrat gubernatorial candidate Janet Reno's unsuccessful campaign against incumbent Governor Jeb Bush in June 2002. Reno also received major support from Rosie O'Donnell and Elton John.
- #048
Martin Sheen turned down James Woods's guest role in Death Is Not a Passing Grade (1974).
- #049
As a young acting student, Martin Sheen shared an apartment in the Bronx with Al Pacino.
- #050
Martin Sheen was only 14 years younger than Patricia Neal, who played his mother in The Subject Was Roses (1968).
- #051
Martin Sheen is mentioned in the song "Nothing Really Ends" by the Belgian rock band dEUS.
- #052
One of Martin Sheen's brothers, Carlos Patrick "Charlie" Estevez, died on May 25, 2010. He lived to be 74. He was born in 1936, only 4 years before Martin's birth in 1940.
- #053
After meeting Richard Attenborough on the set of Gandhi (1982), Attenborough planned to cast Martin Sheen in a biography of Thomas Paine. Unfortunately, it never came to fruition.
- #054
Martin Sheen is the uncle of Amanda Estevez, Casey Estevez and Angela Estevez.
- #055
Martin Sheen was noted for playing father figures in films.
- #056
Martin Sheen is Constance Estevez's brother-in-law.
- #057
One of Martin Sheen's brothers, Francisco Vernon Estevez, died on June 9, 2015. He lived to be 77. He was born in 1937, only 3 years before Martin's birth in 1940.
- #058
Martin Sheen married Janet Templeton in 1969.
- #059
Martin Sheen has two great-grandchildren: Ama and Luna.
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