Charlie Sheen has roller-coasted from the A-list to the Blacklist in Hollywood over the past three decades. Despite this fact, he always manages to maintain support and dedication from fans worldwide. Charlie Sheen is indeed a bad boy actor with enough publicity to keep the tabloid journalists well fed. This bad boy image of "Charlie the Machine," has ironically worked in his favor at times by keeping his name alive in the press when his career was most in danger of plummeting.

Charlie Sheen was born as Carlos Irwin Estevez, in New York City, on September 3, 1965, into a family of movie stars. Charlie was the third child of the respected and successful, actor and activist Martin Sheen and artist Janet Estevez (Sheen). His brother Emilio Estevez is a famous actor who was once married to American Idol judge and pop music princess Paula Abdul. His other brothers are Renee Estevez and Ramon Estevez, who are also actors.

Unlike Emilio Estevez, Charlie thought it was important to carry on the Sheen name that their father had established in Hollywood and Broadway Theaters. Taking on the Sheen name would prove to be a gift and a curse throughout Charlie’s career. Some critics have viewed Charlie Sheen as lacking true talent and riding on his father’s coattails, while others have praised Sheen for establishing his own stardom in varied Hollywood big screen genres.

Never the bookworm, Charlie spent his time playing baseball and hanging out with friends. When he wasn’t excelling in baseball, Charlie Sheen made 8mm films by borrowing props from his father’s film sets, with neighborhood kids including Rob Lowe and Sean Penn. They called themselves the Point Dume Mafia.

Sheen made his debut in The Execution of Private Slovic, at the young age of nine years old. He continued to score big in baseball throughout high school, and at one time held a record of 40-15 as a pitcher. But Charlie’s poor attendance and academic performance got him kicked out of high school just before his graduation.

Sheen made a decision to pursue acting exclusively, and in 1986 he landed a landmark role in Platoon by famous director Oliver Stone. He won audiences over as a young Vietnam soldier in this Oscar-winning production. Sheen followed up in 1987, opposite Michael Douglas in the super popular, greed and deception movie called Wall Street, also directed by Oliver Stone. Critics pegged Charlie Sheen as Oliver Stone’s favorite, but that all ended when he cast Tom Cruise over Charlie Sheen in Born on The 4th of July in 1989. Their ties would remain forever severed and the two celebrities have not worked on a project together since then.

Charlie Sheen was still determined to make it as an actor, and proved himself in box office hits such as Young Guns in 1988, Major League in 1989, and Hot Shots in 1991. He poured himself into his work but still made time to party and live the life of a star. Sheen’s hard partying was soon accompanied with wild sex escapades and drugs, and before he knew it, Sheen had gotten in over his head. Sheen went in for drug rehab several times in the 1990s and nearly died on more than one occasion from drug overdose.

Sheen has been rumored as being a sex-addict, hence the name "Charlie the Machine." Women have claimed he’s insatiable in the bedroom and notorious for cheating. He was forced to testify in the trial of Madame Heidi Fleiss, where he admitted under oath to spending at least $50,000 on twenty-seven of her prostitutes (at $2,500 per prostitute). His 1995 marriage to model Donna Peele was therefore short-lived. The following year Charlie Sheen was charged for battery against his girlfriend, Brittany Ashland.

Charlie Sheens’ career took a substantial hit as a result of the drugs, womanizing, and bad publicity. He starred in flop after flop and nobody wanted to deal with his baggage. After taking charge of his drug habits and cleaning himself up, Sheen won the spot on Spin City, replacing Michael J Fox in 2000. Sheen spent two seasons on Spin City before landing the leading role on Two and a Half Men in 2003. Ironically, he plays a womanizer on the show.

In 2002, Sheen married Bond girl Denise Richards, after meeting her on the set of Good Advice. They have two daughters together, Sam, born in 2004; and Lola, born in 2005. The love did not last, however. In 2005, Denise Richards filed for divorce while six months pregnant due to alleged abuse and death threats by Charlie Sheen. Denise Richards requested restraining orders for her and her daughters against Charlie Sheen.

It didn’t take long for either of them to move on. Denise Richards has been romantically linked to Richie Sambora, of Bon Jovi. Charlie Sheen has denied the claims of abuse by Richards, and has been seen with new girlfriend Brooke Wolofsky, a twenty-eight-year old real estate investor.

YUDDY