Sean Penn

Actor Sean Penn moves from powerhouse film performer to director to political activist. He was born Sean Justin Penn on August 17, 1960 in Santa Monica, California. His first films Taps (1981) and Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982) established Penn as a strong-headed and opinionated but highly talented actor.
Penn's contributed stellar performances in The Falcon and the Snowman (1985) as well as at Close Range (1986) with Christopher Walken. He wooed and married diva Madonna and together they performed in Shanghai Surprise (1986). He then co-stared in several other movies and stared with Robert De Niro in We're No Angels (1989). This performance gained Penn notoriety in Hollywood and he was off and running.
Penn often played gangsters and in Carlito's Way (1993) he portrayed a corrupt lawyer. His portrayal of a man on death row in Dead Man Walking (1995) won him an Oscar nomination. Penn directed The Indian Runner in 1991 and in 1995 he directed Jack Nicholson in The Crossing Guard. He received a third Oscar nomination for I am Sam (2001) and won an Oscar as Best Actor in Mystic River (2003).
Currently Penn is one of Hollywood's most gifted actors but he has a reputation of being highly controversial yet progressive. Penn is known for playing characters that are prone to violence as well as characters that are unsympathetic, difficult and somewhat cruel. Fortunately his characters have hidden moral centers! His acting style can be classified as intense and highly emotional punctuated with violent outbursts.
Penn married Madonna in 1985 but after a stormy relationship they divorced in 1989. He met and lived with Robin Wright from 1991 until their marriage in 1996. They divorced in 2010. Penn and Wright have two sons.