Sean Penn

About Sean Penn

Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an Academy Award- and Golden Globe-winning American film actor and director. In 2004, he was invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Penn was born in Los Angeles County, California, the son of Leo Penn, an actor and director, and Eileen Ryan (née Annucci), an actress. He has one living brother, musician Michael Penn. Another brother, actor Chris Penn, died in 2006. His paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia. Penn's mother is a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent. According to Penn's mother, Leo Penn may have had distant Spanish ancestry, as the family's surname was originally "Piñón". Penn was raised in a secular home and is an Agnostic.

Penn appeared in a 1974 episode of Little House on the Prairie as a then blonde-haired extra because his father, Leo, directed some of the episodes. Penn launched his career with the 1981 film Taps, followed a year later with the comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High (in the role of Jeff Spicoli), and has since starred in over forty movies. In 1983, Penn turned in one of his best early performance as Mick O'Brien, a troubled youth in the drama Bad Boys. It earned Penn favorable reviews and jump started his career as a serious actor.