Show IF s " THOUGHT I WAS ONE OF THE shams of all time’' said Charlie Sheen “and soon they were going to pull back the curtain on the masquerade and see that I was still this scared stuttering loser from Malibu” From the time his movie career be- gan at age 18 until he nearly died shooting cocaine five years ago Charlie Sheen looked like he had it all—fame wealth talent beautiful women He had made millions of dollars as one of the top actors of his generation in almost SO movies among Platoon and Wall Street and them the office hits like Major League and Hot Shots! However as he told me with surprising candor his life slipped out of control and trouble mounted as his drinking became compulsive and his drag use addictive His success soured into tragedy ' “It was slow suicide” he said “I just didn't know it at the time Then something happened: 1 had an awakening” In the three years since he was freed from his court- supervised probation Sheen now 38 has worked hard to Oscar-winne- rs ' ' clean up his life and reclaim his career Last year he mar-- ' tied and this fall he is starring in his own sitcom Two and a Half Men on CBS I visited Sheen in LA to discover what had turned Ins life around Where had he found the strength for the hard journey back? Sheen was raised in Malibu Calif fee youngest son of Janet and Martin Sheen His sister Renee 35 and brothers Emilio 41 and Ramon 39 also are actors “I love my dad” he de-clar- ed “He was never driven by greed power or glory” His father an actor best known for Apocalypse Now and TV’s The West Wing “had chosen a spiritual path” and seemed an invulnerable protecting presence in Charlie's childhood “Dad whose was a dreamer” he went on “He was also a creative drive wouldn’t let him end his dream of acting “He lived from job to job and Mom supported him in his goals Sometimes they couldn’t pay the rent and were evicted and Dad would say ‘We’ve got to have faith’ Once we couldn’t afford furniture It was bare bones— a mattress on the floor It wasn’t until I was 8 that we moved into the house in Malibu where we finally stayed’" Charlie was 11 when his father had a heart attack while filming Apocalypse Now in the Philippines The boy was flown to Manila knowing only that his dad was “ailing" When he saw the stricken man he was devastated “I was shocked” Sheen recalled “He looked 80 though risk-tak- er COVER PHOTOGRAPH AND PORTRAIT ABOVE BY LARSEN R TALBERT FOR PARADE HAIR BY JANICE ALLISON: GROOMING BY GABRIELIS SOLANA: STYLING BY UNDA MEDVENE FOR MAGNET PAOE4 t OCTOKR S 2001 MRADf MAGAZINE |