Charlie Sheen was one of the most popular actors of the 1980s and 90s. Born into a family of famous actors, including his father Martin Sheen and brother Emilio Estevez, Charlie has starred in some of the highest-grossing films and two hit sitcoms.
Yet he’s also an actor whose personal life has been in the spotlight, grabbing headlines for a string of romantic entanglements, sex scandals, alcohol and drug abuse, and a public mental health meltdown.
Charlie Sheen, born in 1965, has been involved in his father’s film and television projects since he was very young. Growing up, he accompanied his father on exotic films around the world. Here, at a very young age, he was exposed to the wild lifestyle of behind-the-scenes Hollywood, rife with alcohol, drugs, prostitutes, and more. He also suffered from his father’s alcoholism and anger issues. In high school, he won a baseball scholarship to the University of Kansas, but lost it when he was arrested for credit card fraud at age 17 and was expelled a week before graduation.
Just then, Charlie walked into the cinema. He starred in the cult classic “Red Dawn” and went on to land major roles in critically acclaimed films such as the war dramas “Platoon” and “Wall Street” with his father Martin, and with his brother Emilio Esteve. Hereby’s “Young Gunners”, “Major Liga” and so on.
In 2000, he guest starred in the sitcom Spin City and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy in 2002. In 2003, Charlie starred in another sitcom, Two and a Half Dads, which was a huge financial success, earning $1.8 million per episode.
But despite his success, Charlie battled alcohol and drug addiction from an early age. His psychological problems manifested in scandal after scandal. It was revealed that he was a regular at Lady Hollywood’s Heidi Fleiss. He checked himself into rehab several times, but kept falling off the wagon. He also had messy relationships with many women, falling in love, marrying and breaking up fairly quickly. He was also accused of beating and abuse by some.
Things came to a head in 2011 when he was fired from his hit show for rants, rants and derogatory remarks about the show’s creator, Chuck Lorre. People often see him being interviewed, behaving strangely, saying that he has tiger blood and is a warlock. In 2015, he announced that he had been diagnosed HIV positive in 2011. He also paid approximately $10 million to blackmailers to keep his HIV infection a secret. He started focusing on his health and claimed to be sober in 2017.
Charlie’s life is a cautionary tale of how family dysfunction, addiction and drugs can negatively impact life, especially in the spotlight. We wish him continued recovery and enjoying his time with the children.
