Emilio Estevez was born on May 12, 1962, in New York City. His father is actor Martin Sheen and his mother is artist, actress, and producer Janet Sheen. His brother, Charlie Sheen, broke into acting around the same time as him. Emilio's other brother, Ramon Luis Estevez, has had a less spectacular career which has included an appearance in The West Wing. His sister, Renee Estevez, was a regular in The West Wing and has also appeared in films like Heathers.
When Emilio was just seven years old, the family relocated to Malibu, where he spent his formative years. He studied at Santa Monica High School but reckons he learned more by traveling with his father; the two spent time living in Rome and in the Philippines during his childhood.
Estevez began writing poems and scripts at the age of eight, using his family name instead of the career name, Sheen, because he felt it was more distinctive and more romantic. He received his first film-making equipment as a gift when he was eleven, and immediately began making amateur movies. Later, these would include his brother Charlie and friends Sean Penn and Rob Lowe. Estevez, Sheen, and Lowe were later considered to be part of the original 80s Brat Pack, along with John Cusack, Andrew McCarthy, Judd Nelson, Molly Ringwald, Ally Sheedy, and Anthony Michael Hall. Estevez developed his acting skills in school plays before taking a small role as a messenger in Apocalypse Now. He returned to school to write the play Echoes of an Era in which he cast Sean Penn as a Vietnam veteran, and subsequently got his first professional stage role in Mr. Roberts.
After graduating from high school, Estevez went straight into television work. His first major film role came in 1982 with Tex, which also starred Matt Dillon; it was followed by Francis Ford Coppola's The Outsiders (likewise adapted from an SE Hinton novel) with Ralph Macchio and Patrick Swayze. But it was with Alex Cox's offbeat comedy Repo Man with Harry Dean Stanton that Estevez really made his name and went on to achieve cult status. This was important in demonstrating his range before he went on to make mainstream hits The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire.
He later appeared in the Young Guns westerns alongside Kiefer Sutherland and Lou Diamond Phillips, and in popular comedy The Mighty Ducks with Joss Ackland. Estevez's acting career then took a back seat as he concentrated on directing, receiving critical acclaim for The War at Home, which starred his father and Kathy Bates.
He returned to the media spotlight with his star-studded cast forBobby, a film about the assassination of Robert F Kennedy. Actors in the film include Harry Belafonte, his father Martin Sheen, Helen Hunt, Lindsay Lohan, Nick Cannon, Laurence Fishburne, Brian Geraghty, Heather Graham, Anthony Hopkins, Joshua Jackson, Demi Moore, Ashton Kutscher, William H Macy, Freddy Rodriguez, Christian Slater, Sharon Stone, and Elijiah Wood.
In the early 80s Estevez was engaged to actress Demi Moore. He went on to have two children, Taylor and Paloma, by model Carey Salley, but the relationship didn't last. He was later briefly married to singer Paula Abdul, and he now lives with film production assistant Julie Briggs.
YUDDY
