Sean Penn

Sean Penn
Penn filming Milk, 2008
Born	Sean Justin Penn August 17, 1960 (1960-08-17) (age 49) Santa Monica, California, USA
Years active	1974–present
Spouse(s)	Madonna (1985–1989) Robin Wright Penn (1996–present)
Awards won Academy Awards Best Actor 2003 Mystic River Golden Globe Awards Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 2004 Mystic River Other awards Berlin Silver Bear for Best Actor 1996 Dead Man Walking Best Actor Award - Cannes Film Festival 1997 She's So Lovely Venice Volpi Cup for Best Actor 1998 Hurlyburly 2003 21 Grams

Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy award-winning American film actor and director. In 2004, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. ^[1]

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Early life 1.2 Acting career 2 Director 2.1 Personal life 2.2 Political and social causes: 2.2.1 Criticism of President Bush 2.2.2 Hurricane Katrina 3 Filmography and awards 4 References 5 External links

Biography

Early life

Penn was born in Los Angeles County, California,^[2] the son of Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan (née Annucci), an actress. He has one living brother, musician Michael Penn. Another brother, actor Chris Penn, died in 2006. His paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia.^[3][4] Penn's mother is a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent.^[5] According to Penn's mother, Leo Penn may have had distant Spanish ancestry, as the family's surname was originally "Piñón".^[5] Penn was raised in a secular home^[3] and is an Agnostic.^[6]

Acting career

Penn appeared in a 1974 episode of Little House on the Prairie as a then blonde-haired extra because his father, Leo, directed some of the episodes. Penn launched his career with the 1981 film Taps, followed a year later with the hit comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (in the role of stoner Jeff Spicoli). Penn's portrayal of Spicoli was immensely popular and the film remained his most commercially successful work for many years. In 1983, Penn turned in one of his best early performance as Mick O'Brien, a troubled youth in the drama Bad Boys. It earned Penn favorable reviews and jump started his career as a serious actor.

In 1985, Penn gave a memorable performance in the role of Andrew Daulton Lee in The Falcon and the Snowman. Lee was a former drug dealer by trade, convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union and was originally sentenced to life in prison. Lee was paroled in 1998. According to an April 8, 2005, interview in The Guardian, Penn later hired Lee as his personal assistant, partly because he wanted to reward Lee for allowing him to play Lee in the film, and also because he was a firm believer in rehabilitation and thought Andrew Lee should be reintegrated into society now that he is a free man again.^[7]

In 1986 he starred in the drama At Close Range, opposite Christopher Walken. The film was based on a true story and gained positive reviews from critics. Fans and critics noticed the change in Penn's body build. Penn appeared very muscular and in shape. It's considered to be the first film to cash in on Penn's status as a sex symbol. The film featured his then wife Madonna's single "Live to Tell". The music video for the song featured clips from the movie. The video played heavily on MTV and the music video helped promote the film.

Penn was nominated for the best actor academy award four times and won the award once. The academy first recognized his work playing a racist murderer on death row in Tim Robbins' 1995 drama Dead Man Walking. Penn was noted in 1999 for his comedic performance as an egotistical jazz guitarist in the Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. He received his third nomination in 2001 after portraying a mentally retarded father seeking custody of his child in the drama I am Sam. In 2003 Penn finally won for his role in Clint Eastwood's Boston crime-drama Mystic River. He portrayed a hot-headed father with ties to criminals, who seeks revenge for the murder of his daughter.

Penn's interest in progressive or liberal politics is reflected in some of his recent film roles. In 2004, he played a disturbed man bent on killing the president in The Assassination of Richard Nixon. In 2006 he portrayed populist Louisiana governor Willy Stark in an adaptation of the classic American novel All the King's Men, though the film was a critical and commercial failure. In November 2008, Penn earned rave reviews for his portrayal of real-life gay rights icon and politician Harvey Milk in the biopic Milk and has been nominated for best actor for the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards along with fellow actors Jeremy Renner of The Hurt Locker, Javier Bardem, Richard Jenkins, and Mickey Rourke of The Wrestler.^[8]

Director

In 1991, Penn made his directorial debut with The Indian Runner, a film based on Bruce Springsteen's song "Highway Patrolman" from the Nebraska album. He also directed music videos, such as: Shania Twain's "Dance with the One That Brought You" in 1993 and Peter Gabriel's "The Barry Williams Show" in 2002. He has since directed three more films, all of which were well-received by critics: The Crossing Guard in 1995, The Pledge in 2001, and Into the Wild in 2007.

Personal life

Penn was supposedly engaged to actress Elizabeth McGovern, his co-star in 1984's Racing with the Moon, after which he dated Susan Sarandon. Penn's personal life began to attract media attention when he married pop star Madonna in 1985. The relationship was marred by violent outbursts against the press, including one incident for which he was arrested for violently beating a photographer. It is also suggested that when Penn discovered the paparazzo in his hotel room, he hung him by his ankles from the ninth-floor balcony.^[9] Madonna dedicated her third studio album, True Blue to Penn, referring to him in the liner notes as "the coolest guy in the universe". Later in the marriage, Penn was charged with felony domestic assault, a charge for which he pleaded to a misdemeanor. Penn and Madonna divorced in 1989.

He soon began a relationship with Robin Wright, and their first child, Dylan Frances, was born in 1991. Their second child, Hopper Jack, was born in 1993. Penn and Wright married in 1996 and lived in Ross, California. On December 27, 2007, the couple's representative announced that the Penns were divorcing.^[10] However, on April 9, 2008, it was announced that the couple had ended their divorce proceedings.^[11]

During a separation from Wright in the mid 1990s, Penn dated singer and songwriter Jewel. He was also the director of the original video for Jewel's hit song "You Were Meant for Me".^[12]

He is good friends with Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich and he introduced the band at their MTV Icon Induction Ceremony in 2003.

On April 10, 2003, Penn's 1987 Buick Grand National was stolen in Berkeley, California with two firearms in the trunk. Sean also has a 1968 Chevrolet El Camino.

Along with Johnny Depp, Mick Hucknall, and John Malkovich, Penn is a part-owner of the Parisian restaurant-bar Man Ray.^[12]

His younger brother, Chris, famous for playing "Nice Guy Eddie" in Reservoir Dogs, died from an enlarged heart (drug induced) in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006.^[9]

Political and social causes:

Criticism of President Bush

On October 18, 2002, Penn placed a US$56,000 advertisement in the Washington Post asking President George W. Bush to end a cycle of violence. It was written as an open letter and referred to the planned attack on Iraq and the War on Terror.^[13] In the letter, Penn also criticized the Bush administration for its "deconstruction of civil liberties" and its "simplistic and inflammatory view of good and evil."^[14] Penn visited Iraq briefly in December 2002.^[13]

This advertisement was cited as a primary reason for the development of his friendship with Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Hugo Chávez has also used and read aloud an open letter Sean Penn wrote to President Bush in one of his recent televised speeches.^[9] The letter condemned the Iraq War, called for President Bush to be impeached, and also called President George W. Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice "villainously and criminally obscene people".^[15] Chávez also said in the same televised speech "Welcome to Venezuela, Mr. Penn. What drives him is consciousness, the search for new paths," and also "He's one of the greatest opponents of the Iraq invasion." On August, 2007, Penn met with Hugo Chávez in Caracas for two hours. Chávez praised his bravery in urging Americans to impeach President Bush. Chávez also said Penn "made great films" and that he was "well-informed". Penn also visited a new film studio on the outskirts of Caracas that has yet to produce a single film in the 6 years since its establishment, though he did not speak publicly. ^[15]

On June 10, 2005, Penn made a visit to Iran. Acting as a journalist on an assignment for the San Francisco Chronicle, he attended a Friday prayer at Tehran University.^[16]

On January 7, 2006, Penn was a special guest at a forum hosted by the Progressive Democrats of America. He was joined by author and media critic Norman Solomon, Democratic congressional candidate Charles Brown, and activist Cindy Sheehan. The "Out of Iraq Forum" was attended by 200 individuals and took place in Sacramento, California. The program was moderated by Bill Dursten, President of the Sacramento Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility. The forum was held at a SEIU union hall and was organized to promote the anti-war movement calling for an end to the War in Iraq.

Directors Trey Parker and Matt Stone claim to have received a letter from Penn prior to the release of thier film Team America: World Police in 2004. The letter allegedly argued that they shouldn't put the movie out for fear of George Bush being re-elected. Both Stone and Parker in an interview with CBS quoted the following: "What if we want George Bush to be re-elected? And who cares, you're Sean Penn".^[17][18]

In 2005, Penn appeared at the ACLU of Northern California's annual Bill of Rights Day Celebration to present Sister Helen Prejean with the Chief Justice Earl Warren Civil Liberties Award for her work opposing the death penalty.

On April 19, 2007, Penn appeared on The Colbert Report and had a "Meta-Free-Phor-All" versus Stephen Colbert that was judged by Robert Pinsky. This stemmed from some of Penn's criticisms of President Bush. His exact quote was "We cower as you point your fingers telling us to support our troops. You and the smarmy pundits in your pocket – those who bathe in the moisture of your soiled and blood-soaked underwear – can take that noise and shove it."^[19][20] He won the contest 10,000,000, to Stephen Colbert's 1.^[21]

On December 7, 2007, Penn said he is supporting Ohio Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich for U.S. President in 2008, and criticized President Bush's handling of the Iraq war. Penn questioned whether Bush's twin daughters supported the war in Iraq.^[22]

In October 2008 Penn traveled to Cuba, where he met with and interviewed President Raúl Castro.^[23]

Hurricane Katrina

In September 2005, Penn traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana, to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. He was physically involved in rescuing people^[24] although there have been criticisms his involvement was merely a PR stunt as he hired a photographer to come along with his entourage.^[25]

He was and is supported by best-selling author Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Rice University and archival historian for the city. The two were seen on CNN coverage September 2, 2005, as Penn, seemingly exhausted, gave an impromptu interview about what he was seeing and doing, and obviously critical of the response until that time, stating that at that time he felt there was only "about one-fifth" the assistance and resources there that needed to be.

Director Spike Lee interviewed Penn for his documentary When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts, about Hurricane Katrina.

Filmography and awards

On December 18, 2006, Penn received the Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award from the Creative Coalition.^[26]

As actor

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1981	Taps	Cadet Captain Alex Dwyer
1982	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Jeff Spicoli
1983	Summerspell	Buddy
	Bad Boys	Michael O'Brien
1984	Crackers	Dillard
	Racing with the Moon	Henry 'Hopper' Nash/Lou
1985	The Falcon and the Snowman	Daulton Lee
1986	At Close Range	Brad Whitewood Jr.
	Shanghai Surprise	Glendon Wasey
1987	Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam	Narrator
1988	Cool Blue	Phil the Plumber	uncredited
	Colors	Officer Danny McGavin
	Judgment in Berlin	Guenther X
1989	Casualties of War	Sgt. Tony Meserve
	We're No Angels	Jim
1990	State of Grace	Terry Noonan
1991	Schneeweißrosenrot	Himself	documentary
1992	Cruise Control	Jeffrey	short subject
1993	The Last Party	Himself	documentary
	Carlito's Way	David Kleinfeld	Nominated - Golden Globe
1995	Dead Man Walking	Matthew Poncelet	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor; Nominated - Golden Globe
1997	Loved	Man on the Hill (Michael)
	She's So Lovely	Eddie Quinn
	U Turn	Bobby Cooper
	The Game	Conrad Van Orton
	Hugo Pool	Strange Hitchhiker
1998	Hurlyburly	Eddie
	The Thin Red Line	1st Sgt. Welsh
1999	Being John Malkovich	Himself	uncredited
	Sweet and Lowdown	Emmett Ray	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor; Nominated - Golden Globe
2000	A Constant Forge	Himself	documentary
	Up at the Villa	Rowley Flint
	Before Night Falls	Cuco Sánchez
	The Weight of Water	Thomas Janes
2001	Dogtown and Z-Boys	Narrator	documentary
	The Beaver Trilogy	Groovin' Larry (segment Beaver Kid 2)
	Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool	Himself	documentary
	See How They Run	Himself	documentary
	I Am Sam	Sam Dawson	Nominated - Academy Award for Best Actor
2003	It's All About Love	Marciello
	Mystic River	Jimmy Markum	Academy Award for Best Actor; Golden Globe; Nominated - BAFTA Award
	21 Grams	Paul Rivers	Nominated - BAFTA Award
2004	The Assassination of Richard Nixon	Samuel J. Bicke
2005	The Interpreter	Tobin Keller
2006	All the King's Men	Willie Stark
2008	Crossing Over	Chris Farrell	awaiting release
	Milk	Harvey Milk	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award - Best Actor
	Witch Hunt	Narrator	documentary, post-production
2009	Tree of Life	Adult Jack	post-production

As director

Year	Film	Other notes
1991	The Indian Runner
1995	The Crossing Guard
2001	The Pledge
2002	11'9"01 September 11	anthology short
2007	Into the Wild

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Paul Newman for Nobody's Fool	Silver Bear for Best Actor - Berlin Film Festival 1996 for Dead Man Walking	Succeeded by Leonardo DiCaprio for Romeo + Juliet
Preceded by Daniel Auteuil and Pascal Duquenne for Le huitième jour	Award for Best Actor - Cannes Film Festival 1997 for She's So Lovely	Succeeded by Peter Mullan for My Name Is Joe
Preceded by Wesley Snipes for One Night Stand	Volpi Cup for Best Actor - Venice Film Festival 1998 for Hurlyburly	Succeeded by Jim Broadbent for Topsy-Turvy
Preceded by Stefano Accorsi for Un Viaggio Chiamato Amore	Volpi Cup for Best Actor - Venice Film Festival 2003 for 21 Grams	Succeeded by Javier Bardem for Mar Adentro
Preceded by Adrien Brody for The Pianist	Academy Award for Best Actor 2003 for Mystic River	Succeeded by Jamie Foxx for Ray
Preceded by Jack Nicholson for About Schmidt	Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama 2003 for Mystic River	Succeeded by Leonardo DiCaprio for The Aviator

References

External links

• Sean Penn at the Internet Movie Database
• Sean Penn's visit to Iran at the San Francisco Chronicle
• Guardian Unlimited Interview, 8 April 2005
• Sean Penn's "Metaphor Off" vs Stephen Colbert on The Colbert Report, April 19, 2007
• Esquire magazine interview/profile
• Sean Penn's Upcoming film

Academy Award for Best Actor Denzel Washington (2001) · Adrien Brody (2002) · Sean Penn (2003) · Jamie Foxx (2004) · Philip Seymour Hoffman (2005) · Forest Whitaker (2006) · Daniel Day-Lewis (2007)  · (1928–1940) · (1941–1960) · (1961–1980) · (1981–2000) · (2001-present)

Persondata
NAME	Penn, Sean
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Sean Justin Penn
SHORT DESCRIPTION	American actor, director
DATE OF BIRTH	17 August 1960
PLACE OF BIRTH	Santa Monica, California
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH