Now starring as President Bartlet in the NBC show The West Wing. His first line on the show? "I am the Lord your God. You shall have no other gods before me." Originally, this was just supposed to be an incidental part, but he ended up being real popular. Rumors were that this annoyed Rob Lowe who thought he'd be the real star, but everyone seems to be okay now.

Sheen was born Ramon Estevez (hence one son with that last name) on August 3, 1940 but changed his stage name after Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, one of his idols growing up. See, Martin Sheen is a Catholic and also a seriously left-leaning liberal. Cool. He's very much into labor rights and human rights and the like. He's actually a lot like his presidential character.

Sheen's been in a lot of movies, he is perhaps currently best known for his role in Apocalypse Now, but has appeared in over 160 films and TV shows. You've seen him in things you don't remember you have, like the movie version of Catch-22 or Wall Street, or perhaps Gandhi. Maybe the reason he looked so comfortable when you first saw The West Wing was that you were subconsciously recalling his performance as a presidential aide in The American President--a movie written by West Wing creator Aaron Sorkin? Or perhaps you remembered his voice from when he played the real Seymour Skinner on The Simpsons.

Was competing for ratings with Charlie Sheen when he took over for Michael J. Fox on Spin City.

He's been married to the same woman for over 40 years. Not bad for Hollywood.

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