Sean Penn (born August 17, 1960) is a American film actor noted for his inflamtory and sometimes violent personality. Penn was born to director Leo Penn, who was blacklisted during McCarthyism for refusing to testify. Penn has starred in over 40 movies and was nominated for two Academy Awards (I Am Sam and Dead Man Walking).
Penn is a resident of Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. Married briefly to pop icon Madonna (August 16, 1985 to January 10, 1989), Penn is currently married to actress Robin Wright, whom he wed on April 27, 1996. They have two children together, but both were born out of wedlock before the two were married.
On October 18, 2002, Penn placed an $56,000 advertisement in the Washington Post asking President 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 criticised 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, largely eschewing meetings with the press.
Penn received criticism on April 10, 2003, when his car, a limited edition turbo-charged 1987 Buick Grand National, was stolen while parked outside the restaurant in Berkeley, California where he was having lunch. In the trunk of the car was a loaded 9mm Glock handgun and an unloaded .38-caliber Smith & Wesson. The car was later recovered, but the guns remained missing. Penn does have a rare California concealed-weapons permit, reportedly as protection against a stalker. Critics pointed out that despite being a champion of liberal causes, Penn was driving a older, less fuel-efficient model of his vehicle, and his gun ownership suggests a broad interpretation of the Second Amendment to the United States Constitution, which has come under liberal scrutiny.
Partial Filmography
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