Sean Penn

Sean Penn
Sean Penn at Cannes, 2000
Born	Sean Justin Penn
Spouse(s)	Madonna (1985-1989) Robin Wright Penn (1996-present)

Sean Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy Award-winning American film actor and director, known for playing intense, often humorless and unsympathetic characters.

Biography

Early life

Penn was born in Santa Monica, California, 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, descended from Rabbis. Penn's mother is a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent. According to Penn's mother, Leo Penn had distant Spanish ancestry, as the family's surname was originally "Piñon". Penn was raised in a secular home and is an Agnostic.

Penn briefly attended Santa Monica College, where he studied Auto Mechanics and Speech.

Career

Penn launched his career with the 1981 film Taps, followed a year later with the comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High in the role of Jeff Spicoli and has since starred in over 40 movies. He was awarded an Oscar for Best Actor for his performance in Mystic River. Penn has also been nominated for three other Academy Awards in recognition of his roles in I Am Sam, Sweet and Lowdown and Dead Man Walking.

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, who was convicted of espionage for the Soviet Union and was originally sentenced to life in prison. Lee was paroled in 1998. According to a 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.

In 2004, Penn was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

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 also appeared on an episode of Viva La Bam in 2004 with his son Hopper. He has since directed three more films: The Crossing Guard in 1995, and The Pledge in 2001 and the critically acclaimed Into the Wild in 2007.

Personal life

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 beating a photographer. Madonna dedicated her third studio album True Blue to Sean 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. After a divorce in 1989, Penn started a relationship with Robin Wright, with whom he had two children, daughter Dylan Frances (1991) and son Hopper Jack (1993), before they married in 1996. They live in Ross, California. (On The Daily Show for January 18, 2007, Robin said she and Sean had been together "almost 20 years".)

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 and Mick Hucknall, Penn is a part-owner of the Parisian restaurant-bar Man Ray.

His younger brother, Chris, famous for playing Nice Guy Eddie in Reservoir Dogs, was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006.

While serving time in jail for punching a photographer, his cell was alongside Night Stalker Richard Ramirez who was awaiting trial. Ramirez asked Penn for an autograph to which he agreed. Penn gave Ramirez an autograph saying something a long the lines of "Dear Richard, it is impossible to be incarcerated and not feel a kinship with your fellow inmates. Well Richard I have done the impossible I feel absolutely no kinship with you. Sean Penn.” Ramirez sent one back to Penn saying something along the lines of “Dear Sean, stay in touch and hit them again. Richard Ramirez 666.”

Political/social causes

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Sean Penn

On October 18, 2002, Penn placed a $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. 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." Penn visited Iraq briefly in December 2002.

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. 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". 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 3, 2007, Penn met with Hugo Chávez in Caracas for two hours. Chávez praised his bravery in urging Americans to impeach President Bush. Penn applauded portions of Chávez's speech, including his characterization of the invasion of Iraq as genocide. Penn's visit led to condemnation from Venezuelan exiles, who describe Chávez as a totalitarian leader trying to control Venezuelan society.

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.

In September 2005, Penn traveled to New Orleans, Louisiana to aid Hurricane Katrina victims. He was physically involved in rescuing many people. One man was 73-year-old John Brown, who had told his sister over the phone: "Guess who come and got me out of the house? Sean Penn, the actor. The boys were really nice." The actor then gave some rescuees an unspecified amount of money to tide them over, and then took those who were in need of medical attention to the hospital. He was and is supported by best-selling author Douglas Brinkley, a professor of history at Tulane University and archival historian for the city. The two were seen on CNN coverage Friday, September 2, as Penn, filthy, soaked, and 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.

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 Normon 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. Progressive activists, Democratic Party leaders, and other individuals gathered to demonstrate their impatience and frustration with U.S. involvement in Iraq.

On December 18, 2006, Penn received the Christopher Reeve First Amendment Award from the The Creative Coalition. On March 24, 2007, Penn publicly criticized President Bush and his handling of the war in Iraq. Penn questioned whether President Bush's twin daughters supported the war in Iraq, and said "Let's show them we can fire this president and put him in fucking jail".

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." He won the contest 10,000,000, to Stephen Colbert's 1.

Penn is supporting Ohio Congressman Dennis J. Kucinich for U.S. President in 2008.

Awards and nominations

Academy Award

• Nominated: Best Actor, Dead Man Walking (1995)
• Nominated: Best Actor, Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
• Nominated: Best Actor, I Am Sam (2001)
• Won: Best Actor, Mystic River (2003)

BAFTA Award

• Nominated: Best Actor, Mystic River (2004)
• Nominated: Best Actor, 21 Grams (2004)

Golden Globe Award

• Nominated: Best Supporting Actor - Motion Picture, Carlito's Way (1994)
• Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Dead Man Walking (1996)
• Nominated: Best Actor - Motion Picture Musical/Comedy, Sweet and Lowdown (2000)
• Won: Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama, Mystic River (2004)

Filmography

As actor:

• Taps (1981)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Summerspell (1983)
• Bad Boys (1983)
• Crackers (1984)
• Racing with the Moon (1984)
• The Falcon and the Snowman (1985)
• At Close Range (1986)
• Shanghai Surprise (1986)
• Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (narrator) (1987)
• Cool Blue (1988) (Cameo)
• Colors (1988)
• Judgment in Berlin (1988)
• Casualties of War (1989)
• We're No Angels (1989)
• State of Grace (1990)
• Snow White Rose Red (1991) (documentary)
• Cruise Control (1992) (short subject)
• The Last Party (1993) (documentary)
• Carlito's Way (1993)
• Dead Man Walking (1995)
• Loved (1997)
• She's So Lovely (1997)
• U Turn (1997)
• The Game (1997)
• Hugo Pool (1997)
• Hurlyburly (1998)
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Being John Malkovich (1999) (Cameo)
• Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
• A Constant Forge (2000) (documentary)
• Up at the Villa (2000)
• Before Night Falls (2000)
• The Weight of Water (2000)
• Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) (documentary) (narrator)
• The Beaver Trilogy (2001) (documentary)
• Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (2001) (documentary)
• See How They Run (2001) (documentary)
• I Am Sam (2001)
• It's All About Love (2003)
• Mystic River (2003)
• 21 Grams (2003)
• The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
• The Interpreter (2005)
• All the King's Men (2006)
• Crossing Over (2007)

Upcoming:

• In Search of Captain Zero (2008)
• Milk (2009)

As director:

• The Indian Runner (1991)
• The Crossing Guard (1995)
• The Pledge (2001)
• 11'9''01 September 11 (2002) (anthology short)
• Into the Wild (2007)

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External links

• Sean Penn at IMDb
• 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

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