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Sean Penn

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Biography

Long the bad boy of Hollywood, Sean Penn is also among the most fiercely talented actors of his generation. He was born August 17, 1960, in Burbank, CA, the second son of actress Eileen Ryan and director Leo Penn. He grew up in Santa Monica, in a neighborhood populated by future celebrities Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, the sons of actor Martin Sheen. Penn's older brother, Michael, is a singer/songwriter turned director, while younger sibling Chris is a noted character actor. The children spent much of their free time together, making a number of amateur films shot with Super-8 cameras. Still, Penn's original intention was to attend law school, although he ultimately skipped college to join the Los Angeles Repertory Theater. After making his professional debut on an episode of television's Barnaby Jones, he relocated to New York, where he soon appeared in the play Heartland. A TV-movie, The Killing of Randy Webster, followed in 1981 before he made his feature debut later that same year in Taps.

Penn shot to stardom with 1982's Fast Times at Ridgemont High; as the stoned surfer dude Jeff Spicoli, he stole every scene in which he appeared, helping to elevate the picture into a classic of the teen comedy genre. However, the quirkiness which would define his career quickly surfaced as he turned down any number of Spicoli-like roles to star in the 1983 prison drama Bad Boys, followed a year later by the Louis Malle caper comedy Crackers and the period romance Racing With the Moon. While none of the pictures performed well at the box office, critics consistently praised Penn's depth as an actor. A turn as a drug addict turned government spy in John Schlesinger's 1985 political thriller The Falcon and the Snowman earned some of his best notices to date, but Penn's performance was quickly lost in the glare of the media attention surrounding his very public romance with pop singer Madonna, which culminated in the couple's 1985 media-circus wedding.

While Madonna actively courted press attention, the private Penn made his loathing for the media quite clear; his run-ins with the paparazzi quickly became the stuff of legend, and the notoriety of his temper began to eclipse even his immense acting ability. His penchant for fisticuffs, combined with other civil infractions, ultimately resulted in a 30-day jail sentence; more seriously, his marriage to Madonna began to buckle under the weight of media scrutiny, and, as the couple's star collaboration in the 1987 movie Shanghai Surprise met with box-office disaster, their private relationship was also over. Soured by the Hollywood experience, Penn did not resurface prior to 1988's Colors, which proved to be his biggest hit in some time. He next appeared in Brian DePalma's Vietnam tale Casualties of War, followed by a turn opposite his idol, Robert De Niro, in the 1989 comedy We're No Angels.

After starring in the gangster melodrama State of Grace, Penn wrote and directed 1991's The Indian Runner, a film inspired by a Bruce Springsteen song and shaped in the image of the films of John Cassavetes. After an almost unrecognizable turn as a troubled attorney in the 1993 DePalma thriller Carlito's Way, Penn announced his intention to retire from acting in order to focus his full attentions on directing; however, after helming 1995's The Crossing Guard with Jack Nicholson and Anjelica Huston, he was back onscreen, winning an Academy Award nomination for his gut-wrenching portrayal of a death-row inmate in Tim Robbins' Dead Man Walking. By 1997, Penn's wishes for retirement were but a memory as he enjoyed his busiest year yet: In addition to starring opposite second wife Robin Wright in Nick Cassavetes' She's So Lovely -- roles which won both spouses acting honors at the Cannes Film Festival -- he also appeared in the David Fincher thriller The Game and in Oliver Stone's U-Turn. He found further acclaim the following year for his roles in the adaptation of David Rabe's Hurlyburly and Terrence Malick's The Thin Red Line. In 1999, he had a cameo appearance in Spike Jonze's Being John Malkovich and starred as a callous 1930s jazz guitarist in Woody Allen's Sweet and Lowdown. In 2002, Penn would once again win critical praise with his Oscar-nominated portrayal of a developmentally disabled man struggling to retain custody of his daughter in I Am Sam. ~ Jason Ankeny, All Movie Guide

Filmography

Why Men Shouldn't Marry (2004)
You'll Never Wiez in This Town Again (2003) .... Himself
Mystic River (2003) .... Jimmy
21 Grams (2003)
It's All About Love (2003) .... Marciello
Art of Dennis Hopper, The (2002) .... Himself
Rosy-Fingered Dawn: a Film on Terrence Malick (2002) .... Himself
I Am Sam (2001) .... Sam Dawson
Scene Smoking: Cigarettes, Cinema & the Myth of Cool (2001) .... Himself
Beaver Trilogy, The (2001) .... Groovin' Larry (segment Beaver Kid 2)
Dogtown and Z-Boys (2001) (voice) .... Narrator
Weight of Water, The (2000) .... Thomas Janes
... aka Poids de l'eau, Le (2002) (France)
Before Night Falls (2000) .... Cuco Sánchez
... aka Antes que anochezca (2000) (USA: Spanish title)
Up at the Villa (2000) .... Rowley Flint
Saturday Night Live: The Best of Dana Carvey (1999) (TV) .... Himself
Sweet and Lowdown (1999) .... Emmet Ray aka Homer P. Risley
Being John Malkovich (1999) (uncredited) .... Himself
Thin Red Line, The (1998) .... 1st Sgt. Edward Welsh
Hurlyburly (1998) .... Eddie
Hugo Pool (1997) .... Strange Hitchhiker
Game, The (1997) .... Conrad Van Orton
U Turn (1997) .... Bobby Cooper
... aka U Turn - Ici commence l'enfer (1998) (France)
She's So Lovely (1997) .... Eddie Quinn
... aka Call It Love (1997)
Loved (1997) .... Man on the Hill (Michael)
Dead Man Walking (1995) .... Matthew Poncelet
Carlito's Way (1993) .... Kleinfeld
Last Party, The (1993) .... Himself
Schneeweißrosenrot (1991) .... Himself
... aka SnowwhiteRosered (1991)
State of Grace (1990) .... Terry Noonan
We're No Angels (1989) .... Jim
Casualties of War (1989) .... Meserve
Cool Blue (1988) (V) (uncredited) .... Phil the Plumber
Judgment in Berlin (1988) .... Guenther X
... aka Escape to Freedom (1988)
... aka Richter für Berlin, Ein (1988) (West Germany)
Colors (1988) .... Officer Danny McGavin
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1988) (TV) (voice)
... aka Dear America (1988) (TV)
Shanghai Surprise (1986) .... Glendon Wasey
At Close Range (1986) .... Brad Whitewood Jr.
Falcon and the Snowman, The (1985) .... Daulton Lee
Racing with the Moon (1984) .... Henry 'Hopper' Nash/Lou
Crackers (1984) .... Dillard
Summerspell (1983) .... Buddy
Bad Boys (1983) .... Mick O'Brien
Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) .... Jeff Spicoli
Taps (1981) .... Alex Dwyer
Killing of Randy Webster, The (1981) (TV) .... Don Fremont
Hellinger's Law (1981) (TV) .... Bit Part

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