Arka Evren

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.

32 Interesting Facts About Martin Sheen

  1. #001

    Martin Sheen suffered a serious heart attack during the filming of Apocalypse Now (1979).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  2. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  3. #004

    Martin Sheen has been arrested more than 70 times, mostly because of liberal protests.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  4. #005

    Because of complications during birth, Martin Sheen's left arm is 3 inches shorter than his right arm.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  5. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  6. #009

    Martin Sheen has memorized and can sing every Frank Sinatra song.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  7. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  8. #020

    Martin Sheen is the seventh of ten children; his parents met at a citizenship school in Dayton.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  9. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  10. #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).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  11. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  12. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  13. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  14. #031

    Of all U.S. presidents, Martin Sheen admires Jimmy Carter the most.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  15. #033

    Martin Sheen is mentioned alongside Steve McQueen and James Dean in the R.E.M. song "Electrolite."

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  16. #034

    Martin Sheen is a graduate of the Stella Adler Studio of Acting.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  17. #035

    Martin Sheen is the older brother of actor Joe Estevez.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  18. #036

    Martin Sheen currently lives in Malibu, California.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  19. #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).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  20. #040

    Martin Sheen ranked 5th on Tropopkin's list of the 25 Most Intriguing People [Issue #100].

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  21. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  22. #045

    Martin Sheen was considered for the recurring role of Luther Sloan in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993), which went to William Sadler.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  23. #046

    Martin Sheen voiced John Ratzenberger's part in Gandhi (1982).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  24. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  25. #048

    Martin Sheen turned down James Woods's guest role in Death Is Not a Passing Grade (1974).

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  26. #049

    As a young acting student, Martin Sheen shared an apartment in the Bronx with Al Pacino.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  27. #051

    Martin Sheen is mentioned in the song "Nothing Really Ends" by the Belgian rock band dEUS.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  28. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  29. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  30. #055

    Martin Sheen was noted for playing father figures in films.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  31. #056

    Martin Sheen is Constance Estevez's brother-in-law.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport
  32. #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.

    INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

    ShareReport

Continue through the archive