* Sheen’s mother’s family had connections to the Irish Republican Army, and his father was a factory worker who had immigrated to the U.S. from Spain.

* Sheen is an environmentalist who joined with such organizations as the Earth Island Institute and the Rainforest Action Network in supporting the Heritage Tree Preservation Act, which seeks to ban all logging in old-growth forests.

* Over the years, Sheen has made a handful of campaign contributions to political candidates — all of them Democrats.

* In 2003 Sheen endorsed a statement condemning the Smithsonian Institution’s plan to exhibit the Enola Gay, the B-29 Superfortress used in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945. He and his fellow 250+ signers — among whom were Noam Chomsky, Norman Lear, and Oliver Stone — were opposed to the aircraft being regarded in a “celebratory” manner.

* On December 1, 2007, Sheen was a featured guest at an ACLU Dinner at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Dearborn, Michigan.

* Sheen supports the activities and agendas of numerous left-wing organizations, including such notables as Earth First!, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, Catholic Democrats, the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, and the War Resisters League.

* Sheen is married to Janet Templeton. The couple has four children, all of whom are actors: Emilio Estévez, Ramón Estévez, Renée Estévez, and Charlie Sheen.