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Martin Sheen (born August 3, 1940) is an American actor. Sheen was born Ramón Estevez in Dayton, Ohio. He lived on Brown Street in the South Park neighborhood, and was one of 9 brothers. He attended Chaminade High School. A Roman Catholic, he adopted the stage name Sheen in honor of priest and theologian Fulton J. Sheen. Martin Sheen is of Irish and Spanish extraction.
Sheen had wanted to act since he was very young, but his father disapproved. He deliberately flunked out of the University of Dayton so that he could pursue his goal. His first major role was on Broadway, in The Subject Was Roses, which he recreated in the 1968 film of the same name. But he did not receive another important part until 1973, when he starred with Sissy Spacek in the crime drama Badlands. It was his 1979 starring role in Apocalypse Now which gained him fame. He received much critical acclaim for his starring role as Private Eddie Slovik in The Execution of Private Slovik, the motion-picture story of the last American soldier to be sentenced to execution at a court-martial.
Sheen married fellow actor Janet Templeton in 1961, and the two have four children, all actors:
Martin Sheen is no stranger to politics, both professionally and in real life. He has played U.S. President John F. Kennedy (in the movie Kennedy - The Presidential Years) and fictional Democratic president Josiah Bartlet in the acclaimed television drama The West Wing. Sheen is known for his robust support of liberal political causes, and has been arrested several times for protesting against United States military actions. Sheen has resisted calls to stand for office, saying "There's no way that I could be the president. You can't have a pacifist in the White House ... I'm an actor. This is what I do for a living."
Although generally liberal in his political beliefs Sheen is in fact pro-life and is a member of Consistent Life a group that speaks out against abortion, the death penalty, euthanasia and war.
In 2004, Sheen campaigned for Democratic presidential candidate Howard Dean along with fellow actor Rob Reiner.
Sheen has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, at 1500 Vine Street.