When Martin Sheen began his acting career in the early 1960s, he made a pivotal decision that would haunt him for the rest of his life. The then young actor, raised by a Spanish father and an Irish mother, chose to drop his given name of Ramón Estévez and use the stage name Martin Sheen as a way to get more work, because at the time it was quite common.
A Latin origin recovered in the twilight of his career
The change paid off, as Sheen was able to build a highly successful acting career that included roles in movies like ‘Apocalypse Now’ all the way up to starring iconic television characters, such as President Jed Bartlet in ‘The West Wing of the White House’ and Robert Hanson in ‘Grace and Frankie’. At 81, she is preparing to star alongside his son Charlie in ‘Entourage’ creator Doug Ellin’s new show ‘Ramble On.’
However, when looking back on his storied career, Sheen has some regrets for not having built his acting career with his real nameas revealed in a new interview with Closer Weekly
“It is something that I regret. I never officially changed my name. It’s still Ramón Estévez on my birth certificate. He’s on my marriage license, my passport, driver’s license. Sometimes you get convinced when you don’t have enough insight or even courage enough to stand up for what you believe in, and you pay for it later. But of course I only speak for myself.”
All of Sheen’s children have had careers as actors and he advised them to keep their names in Spanish. Some, like E.Milio EstevezThey heeded their father’s advice. But others, like charlie sheen, followed in his footsteps and adopted his stage name as their own. While Sheen acknowledges that everyone can make their own decisions in life, he is thankful that his son Emilio has not changed his last name to Sheen.
“The only influence I had on Emilio was to keep his name. When he started, his agent advised him to change his name to Sheen and he didn’t. And I thank God he didn’t.”