Sean Penn has acting in his genes. The son of respected actors Leo Penn and Eileen Ryan, Sean was born August 17, 1960, in Santa Monica, California. Not surprisingly, he showed a keen interest in the “family business” from an early age, making a variety of Super 8 films with his friends. Unlike most children, however, his friends just happened to be future Hollywood superstars Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, both of whom lived nearby.
Sean Penn’s tv acting debut
Thanks to his parents’ Hollywood connections, Penn made his television debut in 1974 with a small part on Little House on the Prairie. His acting career didn’t begin, however, until five years later when he landed a part on an episode of Barnaby Jones while enrolled at Los Angeles Repertory Theatre.
Encouraged by his early success, Penn moved to New York where he starred in the play Heartland, and soon scored a role in the 1981 telefilm, The Killing of Randy Webster. Penn made his big-screen debut later that year in Taps, a highly regarded drama about military cadets, co-starring Tom Cruise and Timothy Hutton.
Sean Penn attends ridgemont high
Thanks to Taps’ success, Penn was cast as stoned surfer Jeff Spicoli in 1982′s hilarious teen comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High. The impressive back-to-back roles, as well as parts in 1983′s Bad Boys and Summerspell, put Penn on the map as one of America’s most promising young actors.
Sean Penn marries madonna
Sean Penn further cemented that reputation in 1985 when he re-teamed with Hutton in The Falcon and the Snowman, a chilling Cold War-era thriller. Penn’s stellar performance caught the attention not only of the critics, but also of pop sensation Madonna, and the pair soon became an item. Following a torrid, and sometimes tumultuous, romance involving several run-ins with the paparazzi, Penn and Madonna were married on August 16, 1985.
The newlywed couple even shared the screen together in 1986′s dreadful Shanghai Surprise. While the film confirmed many critics’ suspicions about Madonna’s wooden acting, Penn bounced back nicely from the disaster in 1988 with Colors, a gritty cop drama set on the mean streets of East L.A.
Sean Penn and madonna divorce
Although Penn managed to salvage his career, his marriage was another matter altogether. After being charged with felony domestic assault, he and Madonna officially called it quits on January 10, 1989.
Free to concentrate solely upon his career, Penn had an outstanding year in 1989, starring alongside Michael J. Fox in the Vietnam war drama, Casualties of War and sharing the screen with Robert De Niro in the amusing comedy, We’re No Angels.
Sean Penn meets robin wright
As impressive as his first 10 years in the business may have been, Sean became an American institution during the 1990s. He kicked off the decade with 1990′s State of Grace, an intense film about the Irish mob in New York. Although not his most memorable work, the film allowed him to meet Robin Wright, and the pair began their romance almost immediately.
Less than a year later, their first daughter, Dylan Frances, was born on April 13, 1991. Their second child, Hopper Jack, was born on August 6, 1993.
Sean Penn in dead man walking
Penn switched gears in 1991 to direct The Indian Runner, a superb film about two disparate brothers that he also wrote. That was followed by 1993′s Carlito’s Way and 1995′s Dead Man Walking, his biggest critical success to date. Penn’s portrayal of a convicted murderer on death row won him Best Actor awards from the National Society of Film Critics, the Independent Spirit Award and the Berlin International Film Festival.
Penn returned behind the camera later that year to direct The Crossing Guard, a stirring and successful drama starring Jack Nicholson. He also married Robin in 1996.
Penn would continue to win more acclaim in the years to come. In 1997, he won a Best Actor award from the Cannes International Film Festival for the comedy She’s So Lovely, in 1998 he captured top acting honors from the Venice International Film Festival for the drama Hurlyburly, and his role as egotistical guitarist Emmet Ray in the Woody Allen comedy Sweet and Lowdown was met with tremendous reviews.
Sean Penn wins big with mystic river and milk
Penn teamed up with Nicholson again in 2001 to direct his third film, The Pledge — a crime drama about a veteran cop who’s made a promise he can’t break. That was followed by more stirring performances in 2001′s I Am Sam and 2003′s Mystic River, an intensely moving drama directed by Clint Eastwood. Although the film co-starred Tim Robbins and Kevin Bacon, the majority of the praise was heaped upon Penn, who walked away with Best Actor honors from the Academy Awards, the Golden Globes, the National Society of Film Critics, the National Board of Review and the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
That very same year, Penn starred in the crime drama 21 Grams, for which he won a Best Actor award from the National Board of Review, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association and the Venice International Film Festival.
He has since starred in The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004) and The Interpreter (2005), and he was also cast in All the King’s Men (2006) and In Search of Captain Zero (2006), which he also produced.
At the 2009 Academy Awards, Penn walked away with his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor for his portrayal of Harvey Milk in the biopic Milk.
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