What is Martin Sheen's real name? Actor, 81, regrets name change to succeed in Hollywood
Following the footsteps of his idol, James Dean, Martin Sheen had decided to change his name to make it big in Hollywood. But today, he admits that’s the regret he has. He wished he didn’t change his birth name and stayed as Ramón Gerardo Estévez.
In an interview with Closer Weekly, the 81-year-old Emmy-winning actor, father of Charlie Sheen, talked about his life, career and some mistakes that he made along the way to find fame in the film industry, which includes changing his identity. “I never changed my name officially. It’s still Ramon Estévez on my birth certificate. It’s on my marriage license, my passport, driver’s license. Sometimes you get persuaded when you don’t have enough insight or even enough courage to stand up for what you believe in, and you pay for it later. But, of course, I’m only speaking for myself,” he expressed.
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Talking about his career, the 'Badlands' actor said how despite his father’s disapproval, he left for New York after finishing school. "You couldn’t blame him. Both my parents were immigrants. My father was from Spain, and my mother was from Ireland. My real name is Ramon Estévez. My father was very practical. He was a factory worker for most of his adult life, and he wanted me to go to college and improve my chances of making a better living than he did. We had some very, very painful confrontations about it,” he said. And added, "He was a big fan of TV Westerns in the ’50s. One night, we started a discussion about my going to New York. He said to me, ‘You want to go into the theatre. You can’t sing, you can’t dance. You don’t know what you’re doing!’ I said, ‘Pop, you sit here every night watching Westerns — do you see anyone singing or dancing?’ He said, ‘No, but you don’t ride a horse either.’ He finally saw that I was committed and realized it would be a life and death struggle with me if I didn’t pursue it. When I got ready to go, he blessed me, and he continued to bless me the rest of his life. I adored him."
Martin Sheen on his children being actors
All four of Sheen’s children with his wife Janet Sheen, to whom he got married in 1961, went on to pursue acting careers - Charlie Sheen, whose birth name is Carlos Irwin Estévez, Emilio Estevez, Renée Pilar Estevez and Ramon Estevez. He told in the interview, "I was so self-involved and trying to be a provider that I wasn’t aware of their inclination to being actors. I was doing a show one time, and Emilio showed up. I thought he was there to visit me, but he’d gotten a part in the same show. The only influence I had on Emilio was to keep his name. When he started out, his agent was advising him to change his name to Sheen, and he wouldn’t do it. And I thank God he didn’t."
Why did Martin Sheen change his real name?
In talks with Daily Telegraph in 2015, the star mentioned how he changed his name to avoid racism towards Puerto Ricans. Born on August 3, 1940 in Ohio, the seventh son of Spanish immigrant Francisco Estevez and his Irish-born wife Mary Ann Phalen, he said, “It was tough after Mother died. We each had to work to support ourselves. I was a caddie from the time I was nine until I left home, carrying golf bags for wealthy people. That’s how my social conscience was formed. The rich were my best teachers: I saw their inhumanity, selfishness, dishonesty, but I never saw a satisfied rich man. They always wanted more.”
After going to New York, he tried for stage roles, only to be told the job was taken once he gave his full name. Eventually, he made a decision to combine the names of CBS casting director Robert Dale Martin, with New York bishop Fulton Sheen. Within months he bagged backstage job as janitor, earning $5 a week and occasional actor at Judith Malina and Julian Beck’s avant grade Living Theatre.