1987: A fresh-faced 22-year-old Sheen lands his first major breakthrough, starring in two Oliver Stone blockbusters. He plays an ambitious junior stockbroker, Bud Fox, in Wall Street and a young soldier in Vietnam in Platoon, which won the sought-after Academy award for Best Picture. Needless to say, Sheen's profile skyrocketed...

Advertisement

1989: Sheen keeps it in the family when he wins a Bronze Wrangler award, along with brother Emilio Estevez and Kiefer Sutherland, for his work on western Young Guns, before starring alongside his father, Martin Sheen, as a rebellious inmate in Cadence - a sign of life about to imitate art, perhaps, because...

1990: Sheen’s personal troubles become tabloid fodder as he's reported to have accidentally shot his then-fiancée, Kelly Preston. In a bizarre turn of events he claimed to be carrying a gun to protect himself from thieves which happened to go off when Preston was moving his clothes. Needless to say, she cut her losses and swiftly ended their engagement.

1994: Sheen is honoured with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in recognition of his acting work, not his fashion sense, judging by this picture...

Although he's looking rather chuffed with himself here...

More like this

1995/6 – But Charlie's recent accolade was a short respite from his very public meltdown as he faced a sequence of court appearances, during which he admitted spending money on prostitutes and abusing his ex-girlfriend, before finding himself in rehab following an overdose. That bright young acting talent that once earned him prestigious awards suffered alongside his troubled personal life, and he had very few successful projects.

2000 – But a few years can work wonders as Sheen embarked upon his thriving TV career, replacing Michael J. Fox in Sin City, a role which led him to be cast as Charlie in Two and a Half Men in 2003. The sitcom was hugely successful, earning nominations for Emmy and Golden Globe Awards.

2006: You could only feel sympathy for Charlie's poor publicist when, in 2006, he announced his belief that the 9/11 terrorist attacks were part of a government conspiracy. He declared, "There was a feeling, it just didn't look any commercial jetliner I've flown on any time in my life and then when the buildings came down later on that day I said to my brother 'call me insane, but did it sorta look like those buildings came down in a controlled demolition'?" And if you thought that was bad...

2008: Sheen embarks on his second marriage after the first to Denise Richards ended acrimoniously following her accusations of substance abuse and threatening behaviour. This behaviour was exemplified in a voicemail leaked to the press. He had two more children with Brooke Mueller, who later divorced him, apparently concerned about his mental health.

2011: Sheen was fired from Two and a Half Men, after refusing requests to enter rehabilitation and he spent the rest of the year in a much-publicised drug and alcohol-fuelled meltdown. Some bright spark soon decided to make a buck or two in a theatre tour titled 'Violent Torpedo of Truth/Defeat Is Not an Option'. His infamous interview on Good Morning America, explaining that he was not ‘bi-polar’, but ‘bi-winning’ graced many a Facebook status and sparked a plethora of YouTube spoofs.

During this time Sheen was repeatedly pictured with attractive women, whom he dubbed his ‘‘goddesses’’, revealed to be mainly live-in models and porn stars. He spoke about his excessive drug use and prostitute frequenting, and publically lambasted the Two and a Half Men crew, claiming he didn’t deserve to be fired.

2012: Sheen emerges from the ashes of his career, returning to the screen in new series, Anger Management. Judging by response Stateside, he appears to have hit gold dust, earning a 90-episode order from US network FX.

Advertisement

You can judge its success for yourself when it starts tonight at 9:00pm on Comedy Central.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement