Sean Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American film actor. Penn is the son of director Leo Penn, who was blacklisted during McCarthyism for refusing to testify. He has two brothers: actor Chris Penn and musician Michael Penn.

Penn launched his career in the film Fast Times at Ridgemont High in the role of Spicolli, and has since starred in over 40 movies and won an Oscar for Mystic River. He has also been nominated for three other Academy Awards for his roles in the films I Am Sam, Sweet and Lowdown and Dead Man Walking).

In 1991, Penn made his directorial debut with The Indian Runner , a film based on Bruce Springsteen's song Highway Patrolman from the Nebraska (album). He has since directed two more films, both starring Jack Nicholson, The Crossing Guard in 1995 and The Pledge in 2001.

Penn's personal life has been a volatile one. He married pop star Madonna in 1985, a relationship marred by violent outbursts against the press intrusion into his life, including one incident for which he was arrested. After a divorce in 1989, Penn started a relationship with Robin Wright, with whom he had two children before marrying her in 1996.

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.

On April 10, 2003, Penn's limited-edition 1987 Buick Grand National, with two firearms in the trunk, was stolen in Berkeley, California. Penn came under criticism that his gas-guzzling car and gun ownership did not jibe with his advocacy of liberal causes.

Partial filmography

Acting

• The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)
• 21 Grams (2003)
• Mystic River (2003)
• 9'11''01 September 11 (2002)
• I Am Sam (2001)
• The Beaver Trilogy (2001)
• Sweet and Lowdown (1999)
• The Thin Red Line (1998)
• Hurlyburly (1998)
• The Game (1997)
• U Turn (1997)
• She's So Lovely (1997)
• Dead Man Walking (1995)
• Casualties of War (1989)
• Colors (1988)
• Bad Boys (1983)
• Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
• Taps (1981)

Directing

• The Crossing Guard
• The Indian Runner
• The Pledge

Quotes

"If there's one thing that actors know —other than there weren't any WMDs— it's that there is no such thing as best in acting." --After winning the Academy Award for Best Actor in 2004.

External links