Carlos Irwin Estevez (born September 3, 1965 in New York City, New York), better known by his stage name Charlie Sheen, is an American actor. He is the son of acclaimed actor Martin Sheen, brother of rather-less-acclaimed actor Emilio Estevez, and nephew of even-less-well-acclaimed actor Joe Estevez. If you ask him, Adonis and tigers somehow figure into his ancestry as well. Oh, and his mother's Jewish, apparently.note
His character roles in films have included Chris Taylor in the 1986 Vietnam War drama Platoon, Jake Kesey in the 1986 film The Wraith, and Bud Fox in the 1987 film Wall Street. His career has also included more comedic films, such as Major League, Hot Shots! and Hot Shots! Part Deux, Being John Malkovich, and Scary Movie 3 and 4. He also had a small role in Ferris Bueller's Day Off. On television, Sheen is known for his roles as The Danza on two sitcoms: as Charlie Crawford on Spin City and as Charlie Harper on Two and a Half Men. As of 2010, Sheen was the highest-paid actor on television, earning $1.8 million per episode of Two And A Half Men.
In 2011, he dove far off the deep end into self-destructive madness, which led to him being fired from Two and a Half Men.note A Twitter account he created garnered 80,000 followers before he ever wrote a thing, and raced right past the million mark in one day to 1.4 million followers, beating even Oprah.
Alternatively, he may have been shrewdly transforming his strange self-destructive behavior into revenue: his "Torpedo of Truth" tour has garnished a fair amount of money, much of which Sheen has donated to charity.
Between 2012 and 2014, he starred in the FX sitcom Anger Management (an adaptation of the movie) as a womanizing baggage-toting character named Charlie.
Sadly, in November 2015, Charlie came forward and confirmed that he was HIV-positive, having been diagnosed in 2011. Even worse, he stated
the infection likely occurred during one of the very rare times (two by his own count) that he had unprotected sex.
This actor is infused with these winning tropes:
- Ascended Meme: Cable stations are already using some of his... unusual quotes to advertise for Two and a Half Men and Spin City re-runs.
- Identical Son: He is the near-spitting image of his father, which contributed to them playing father and son several times. At one point, they both appear in a commercial, where Martin plays an elder version of his son, due to his character waiting for so long.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Characters he performs tend to be this or start out like this.
- Leslie Nielsen Syndrome: He was first known for roles in Wall Street and Platoon... and then landed the role of Ricky "Wild Thing" Vaughn in Major League. Hot Shots!, Spin City, the Scary Movie franchise, Two and a Half Men, and Anger Management would all follow.
- The Pornomancer: Charlie has played a few throughout his career. At least one of them has the same first name as him.
- The Roast: In September 2011, he was the subject of the Comedy Central Roast. Jokes about him in The Tyson Zone made easier with Mike Tyson himself as a roaster.
- This Is My Name on Foreign: Carlos -> Charlie.
- What Could Have Been:
- He auditioned for the role of Marty McFly in Back to the Future before Michael J. Fox was cast.
- He was considered for the part of Bruce Wayne in Batman before the casting of Michael Keaton.
