In the early to mid-’80s, a generational shift occurred in Hollywood. The Old Guard, stars who had been on screen for a decade or two, were aging. Newer, younger stars were needed to replace them. At that time, a young second-generation actor emerged. The 20-year-old has been branded as the next big star, ahead of contemporaries such as Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp. Still, his career never reached the dizzying heights that many expected. This is Hollywood’s biggest “what if” story. (Also read: Charlie Sheen fights irrelevance and wants to run for US president in 2016)
The man who was bigger than Tom Cruise and Johnny Depp
The success of the 1984 film Red Dawn made 18-year-old Charlie Sheen an overnight star. Martin Sheen’s son Charlie cemented his stardom with starring roles in Platoon (1986) and Wall Street (1987). At this point, he was considered Hollywood’s most promising young star, surpassing Tom Cruise. Johnny Depp himself would go on to become a superstar, but in Platoon he was relegated to a supporting role. However, by the late ’80s and early ’90s, other actors, most notably Bruce Willis and Tom Cruise, began to leave Charlie behind. He delivered hits like The Rookie and Cadence, all of which were films about two main characters. By now, other stars were leading blockbusters as well.
Charlie Sheen’s first fall
In 1998, Charlie Sheen was hospitalized after suffering a stroke from a cocaine overdose. A few years ago, he caused controversy when he was named as a client of a high-end escort agency. In 2005, Sheen’s marriage to actor Denise Richards came to an ugly end due to allegations of drug abuse and domestic violence against him. Roles in movies dried up, and the actor moved to television, working in sitcoms.
highest paid tv star
In 2003, amid legal troubles, Charlie Sheen began appearing on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men. For the next several years, the sitcom dominated primetime ratings and revitalized Charlie’s career. By 2009-10, when the show’s seventh season aired, the actors were charging $1.8 million per episode, or almost $40 million per season. This made him the highest-paid television actor in the world. But again, the elation didn’t last long.
Charlie Sheen’s firing and downward spiral
In 2009, Charlie Sheen was arrested for assaulting his third wife, Brooke Mueller, with whom he had recently filed for divorce. He was eventually released and managed to continue working as an actor, but not for long. In 2011, the actor relapsed into drugs and was fired from Two and a Half Men after making offensive comments towards the sitcom’s creator Chuck Lorre. Around the same time, Mueller filed a restraining order against him and had her sons removed from her home by police.
In 2015, he revealed that he had HIV and that he had paid a blackmailer $10 million to keep his condition a secret. Two years later, he was investigated by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Stalking Unit for threatening to kill his ex-fiancée, Scottin Ross. His last acting appearance was in the 2017 film 9/11, where he played a supporting role. The actor currently lives in Los Angeles.
