Martin
Sheen is an Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning American actor and social activist,
best known for his roles as Captain Willard in the movie, Apocalypse Now,
and President Bartlet on the TV drama series, West Wing. The son of a Spanish
immigrant father and Irish immigrant mother, he was baptized Ramón Gerardo Antonio
Estévez, but adopted the stage name Martin Sheen when he began acting.
While
filming Apocalypse Now in the late 1970s, Martin Sheen had a life-changing
experience -- he suffered a heart attack, and began a spiritual journey that culminated
in his rediscovering his Catholic faith. It was his spirituality that strengthened
his commitment to social activism. Martin Sheen has been an outspoken crusader
for many causes including advocating for peace, farm worker's rights, nuclear
disarmament, animal rights, the environment, working to end poverty, hunger, homelessness,
racism and capital punishment, and protesting against the US Army's School of
the Americas (dubbed School of Assassins), which critics claim trains Latin American
terrorists. A strong believer in nonviolent civil disobedience, Martin Sheen has
not hesitated to put his life on the line for the causes he believes in -- he
has been arrested more than 60 times for his activism. In 2007, Martin Sheen received
the Pathfinder's Peace Award for his dedication to a more peaceful world.
