He was once one of the brightest young stars in Hollywood, giving fantastic performances in the likes of Platoon and Wall Street. But as time has moved on, he has become more well known for his controversial and sometimes downright bizarre personal life, than he has for his on-screen acting ability.

Below are 20 things you probably didn’t know about the strange and occasionally shocking life of Charlie Sheen.

20. His first big-screen role was in one of his dad’s movies when he was nine-years-old

Charlie Sheen (born Carlos Estévez on 3rd September 1965) is the youngest son of actor Martin Sheen and artist Janet Templeton.

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His first big-screen appearance was in his dad’s 1974 film The Execution of Private Slovik, when he was just nine years old.

This was a made-for-television movie which tells the true story of an American soldier who is executed for desertion.

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It is based on a novel of the same name written by William Bradford Huie.

Sheen’s father played the leading role, and he received rave reviews for his performance.

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19. He was friends with Rob Lowe and Sean Penn in high school

Sheen attended the same High School as acting legend Robert Downey Jr, and the pair were close friends.

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Other prominent names in their friendship circle included Rob Lowe and Sean Penn.

According to Lowe, he and Sheen were essentially the ‘nerds’ of the group.

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The group, along with Sheen’s brother Emilio Estévez, began their acting career at this time, making amateur Super 8 movies together whilst they were students.

Sheen was into conspiracy theories even at this young age, and he would wear a bulletproof vest under his school uniform.

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18. He nearly landed the lead role in Born on the Fourth of July

Sheen’s first major movie role was in Platoon in 1986, and a year later he starred in Wall Street alongside his father.

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Both movies were directed by Oliver Stone, and Sheen almost starred in Stone’s Born on the Fourth of July, but narrowly lost out on the lead role to Tom Cruise.

This wasn’t the first time he had missed out to Tom Cruise, as they were also head to head for the lead role in Cocktail and The Firm.

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Sheen was also considered for parts in The Expendables 3 and The Hangover Part III.

Sheen also turned down the role of Henry Hill in Goodfellas, as well as Leonard in Memento.

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17. He accidentally shot his fiancee Kelly Preston in the arm

Believe it or not, in 1990, Sheen was accused of accidentally shooting his fiancée Kelly Preston in the arm.

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Preston ended her engagement to Sheen soon after the shooting incident occurred, which we’re sure doesn’t come as too much of a shock to you.

However, more recently it’s come to light that things might not be quite as they seem…

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According to Sheen, he was in the kitchen making coffee when he heard a gunshot from upstairs.

He ran to his then-girlfriend, Preston, and discovered that she had been shot after lifting up his trousers from the floor, accidentally triggering the gun he kept in his pocket.

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16. His second wife Denise Richards accused him of threatening her with violence

Sheen met actress Denise Richards on the set of the movie Good Advice in 2000.

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They began dating in October 2001, when Richards made a guest appearance on Sheen’s TV show, Spin City.

The pair were married for just four years before calling it a day in 2005.

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The divorce was finalised in 2006, and proceeded a long custody dispute over the couple’s children.

It was Richards who filed for divorce, accusing Sheen of alcohol and drug abuse, as well as threatening her with violence.

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15. He claimed to be a ‘warlock’ with ‘tiger blood’

After being sacked from the popular sitcom Two and a Half Men, Sheen made a number of controversial television interviews.

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During these interviews, he claimed, among other things, to be a ‘warlock’ with ‘tiger blood’.

He also suggested that he had ‘Adonis DNA’, and constantly assured the interviewer that he was ‘winning’.

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Sheen vowed to sue CBS after they fired him from hit sitcom Two and a Half Men, claiming that they ‘picked a fight with a warlock’.

The star has explained away his strange behaviour, claiming he was taking too much testerone at the time, resulting in a case of ‘roid rage’.

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14. His third wife Brooke Mueller believed he had gone insane

Sheen married his third wife Brooke Mueller in 2008, and they had twin sons together.

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Only two years later Sheen filed for divorce, and in 2011 police removed their sons from Sheen’s house after Mueller obtained a restraining order against him.

The leaked document regarding the incident read ‘I am very concerned that Sheen is currently insane.’

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Sheen declared that he would fight for the children, telling People magazine that he was ‘born ready. Winning.’

The couple’s divorce was finalised in May 2011, and the pair have had little to no contact since.

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13. He believes the September 11th terrorist attacks were orchestrated by the US

As previously discussed, it’s clear Sheen had an interest in conspiracy theories from a young age.

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However, it seems this passion has continued into adulthood, and Sheen is certainly not shy of making his theories heard.

Sheen is an outspoken advocated of the 9/11 Truth Movement, and regularly speaks out about his thoughts on the event.

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In 2009, Sheen suggested to President Barack Obama that he should start a new investigation into the September 11th terrorist attacks.

The press at the time reported that Sheen believes the attacks were orchestrated by the administration of former President George W Bush.

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12. He’s the highest-paid TV actor of all time

In 2011, Sheen set a World Record for the fastest person to reach one million followers on Twitter.

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He was also once ‘the highest-paid TV actor per episode’, for his role in Two and a Half Men, earning $350, 000 per episode.

He was also ranked number 66 in Forbes 100 Top Power Ranking by Salary, as well as scoring a place on the list of Hollywood’s Hottest Dads.

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After his divorce from Denise Richards, the pair were ranked on the list of Hollywood’s Nastiest Splits. Such an honour!

It seems people just can’t quite figure Sheen out, which explains him being placed in People’s Most Intriguing People.

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11. Sheen has only ever made one movie under his birth name

If we were to ask you for the name of the only movie in which Sheen was credited under his birth name, then you might assume it was one of his early roles.

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But it was actually 2013’s Machete Kills, in which he played the President of the USA.

It was Sheen’s bright idea to use his birth name due of the movie’s Hispanic theme.

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Unlike their brother, all of Sheen’s siblings are known by their original family names, Estevez.

Sheen, however, actually changed his name to Charlie Sheen legally, unlike his father who uses the name Martin Sheen only as an actor.

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10. He was once in possession of what he thought was a snuff film

Way back in 1991, Sheen and a close friend ended up with some disturbing footage on their hands.

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The film was called Guinea Pig: Akuma no Jikken, and was released in 1985.

The film was worryingly convincing, and was rumoured to contain actual snuff footage.

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The pair tried hard to explain away the ominous film as special effects, but were ultimately unable to convince themselves.

They decided to call in the FBI, who tracked town the makers of the films, and discovered the atrocities were in fact the result of special effects.

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9. He nearly died on a film set

It seems that most actors have had a close dice with death whilst on set, and Sheen is clearly no exception.

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Whilst shooting Platoon in 1986, Sheen had a close call when the pilot of the helicopter he was on banked to hard.

Sheen was sent hurtling towards the open door, nearly falling to his death.

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Luckily, actor Keith David managed to grab hold of him and pull him back into the helicopter.

His quick thinking, heroic actions saved Sheen’s life, and Sheen has since praised the star.

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8. He’s an anti-vaxxer

Sheen is apparently staunchly opposed to vaccines, and makes no secret of this fact.

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After he separated from Denise Richards he sent a legal notice to his daughter’s physician.

The notice stated that Sheen did not consent to his daughter being vaccinated.

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Sheen and Richardson’s disagreement over the benefits of vaccines would ultimately lead to their marriage’s demise.

He even went so far as to accuse Richardson of poisoning their child, at which point Richardson decided there was no hope for their marriage.

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7. He suffered a serious stroke

In 1998, Sheen suffered a stroke after he overdosed on a certain illegal substance. He was discovered by a friend at his seaside home, who caught him just in time.

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Paramedics rushed to the scene to give emergency life saving treatment.

He was blue lighted to Las Robles hospital, where his stomach was pumped.

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After this incident, Sheen was checked into a rehab clinic, although it seems he wasn’t keen on sticking around.

Police officers forced Sheen back to the clinic after he absconded just hours after arriving.

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6. He’s a keen sports enthusiast

Sheen has been a sports fan from an early age, and was a member of his high school baseball team.

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He was a star pitcher, and his lifetime record was an incredible 40-15.

As an adult, he donated $50,000 to the Cincinnati Red’s community fund.

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The money donated would contribute towards supporting various charities.

In 1992, he purchased the ball from Game 6 of the 1986 World Series for an eye-watering $93,000.

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5. He was expelled from school

After taking up basketball, Sheen’s academic performance began to suffer as a result.

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It was clear that his sporting prowess did not translate to academic success, and he struggled to keep his grades up at school.

Just a few weeks before he was set to graduate, Sheen was met with some shocking news.

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He had been expelled due to his poor performance and bad grades.

After this, Sheen continued his sporting career and would also made his foray into the world of acting.

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4. He got seriously roasted

Credit: Comedy Central

In September 2011, Charlie Sheen stepped up to the celebrity hot seat to be roasted by a group of his peers.

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The show, Comedy Central Roast, featured Seth MacFarlene as the roast master and saw Amy Schumer, Jon Livitz and Patrice O’Neal as roasters, alongside various other famous faces.

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At the time, Sheen had just been canned from Two and a Half Men, and one of the most memorable jokes was ‘How much blow can Charlie Sheen do? Enough to kill two and a half men!’.

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Sheen initially agreed to having no restrictions on the jokes. However, he would later reveal that he requested for jokes about his mother to be edited out of the roast.

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It was the most watched Roast of all time, with 6.4 million viewers, beating even Justin Bieber’s episode, which had just 4.4 million views.

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3. His daughter is named after Scary Movie 3

Sheen and Denise Richards’ daughter was born in March 2004 in LA, California.

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At the time of her birth, Sheen was working on the set of Scary Movie 3.

Sheen and his then-wife, Denise Richards, wanted their daughter to have the letters S and M in her name in homage to the movie.

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They eventually, and rather predictably, decided to call her Sam.

The couple’s second daughter, Lola Rose, was born just one year later in 2005.

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2. He was the victim of several extortion attempts

In 2015, Sheen came forward and publicly revealed that he was HIV positive. This had been the subject of much speculation in the tabloids prior to his admission.

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The reason Sheen chose to share his diagnosis was because he had been blackmailed into paying over $10 million ever since he received the news.

Many of these extortionists were prostitutes whom Sheen had hired.

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One woman even took a photo of his HIV medication in the bathroom cabinet, and threatened to share it with the press.

‘What people forget its that they’re taking the money from my children,’ said Sheen.

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1. He played the son of his real father

Sheen worked with his father in Wall Street, in which the pair play a father and son duo.

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They also appeared in No Code of Conduct and two episodes of Spin City, once again playing father and son.

Sheen’s brother, Emilio Estevez, also starred opposite his father in The War at Home.

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Martin Sheen also played the father of one of Charlie’s girlfriends in Two and a Half Men.

I think we can safely say they seem to be keeping it in the family!

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