The Troubled Life of Charlie Sheen

TMZ has recently published a picture of Charlie Sheen with his freshly shorn head, a la Britney Spears. In and of itself this would all seem rather inconsequential considering the fact that men often shave their heads either to make a fashion statement or simply because they are already balding and prefer to take it all off rather than have half a head of hair.

But, considering that Charlie Sheen is also wearing what appears to be a pair of blue checked pajama bottoms, a rumpled jacket and is holding a fedora in his hand posing for the camera, it does appear to be rather peculiar.

Charlie's reps and friends have already come out to say that "Charlie is not pulling a Britney." But, given that he was also recently photographed coming out of the home of Angelina Tracy, a paid escort and lingerie model, wearing a fake mustache and a hoodie; and his wife, the equally troubled, Brooke Mueller, has supposedly moved out the marital home when she found out about it, well, I think it's safe to say that things are not exactly looking up for Charlie Sheen.

Which is really too bad, because after decades of arrests, drug abuse problems, $50,000 dollars worth of cheap sex with porn stars, hookers, and hanging out with Hollywood madam, Heidi Fleiss, it almost appeared that Charlie Sheen was finally getting his life together.

It was in 2002, after many, well documented years of hard living and bad boy ways that Charlie Sheen married the lovely Denise Richards. Their daughter, Sam, was born in 2004 and all seemed to be going well for the newlywed couple both professionally and personally.

That is, until Denise abruptly left Charlie while 6 months pregnant with their second child, Lola. While gossip columns and rag mags scrambled to figure out what had gone wrong with the happy couple, Denise filed divorce papers alleging that Charlie's behavior was erratic and that she feared for her safety and the safety of her children.

For the next few years, Denise and Charlie slugged it out in the courts and in the media while we heard and read about the sordid details of Charlie's porn and gambling habits, his drug use and inappropriate behavior toward their children during the marriage. The acrimony between the two was as bad as it gets,

But, eventually, the warring spouses were able to bury the hatchet. During this time Charlie also landed steady and lucrative work on the hit show Two and a Half Men, and the troubled and tumultuous waters of Charlie Sheen's life seemed to calm.

In 2006, friend and actress, Rebecca Gayheart, introduced Charlie Sheen to his present wife, Brooke Mueller, herself an actress and real estate investor. The pair hit it off well and enjoyed a loving and stable courtship until 2008 when they married before 60 close friends and family. The following year, in 2009, Brooke gave birth to twin boys, Max and Bob.

By December 2009, however, Charlie Sheen seemed to be back to his hard living and bad boy ways. On Christmas day, Brooke called the Aspen, Colorado police department to report that Charlie had put a knife to her throat and threatened her life. Charlie Sheen was arrested and spent the day in jail. He has since been charged with spousal abuse and is scheduled to report back to court July 21^st of this year for a jury trial.

Since that Christmas day arrest, both Brooke and Charlie have been in and out of rehabilitation centers for drug and alcohol abuse, while their publicists have worked hard to convince the public that all is well in the Sheen marriage, despite reports that the pair are divorcing.

By all accounts, Charlie Sheen is a very talented and gifted actor whose personal life, unfortunately, consistently overshadows any noteworthy accomplishments. Though he seems at times to be able bounce back and have some sort of normalcy in his life, he also seems to consistently return to his old habits and self-destructive ways.

Recently, it has been reported that Charlie wants out of his contract with the show Two and Half Men, which, with a payday of $800,000 dollars per episode, has made Charlie one of the highest paid sit-com actors in the business. Why anyone would leave such a lucrative and successful career while in the middle of personal, marital and legal problems is anyone's guess.

But, if Charlie's recent behavior is any indication, it appears that his lifelong struggles with drug and alcohol abuse is continuing to take its toll. With so much talent and so much privilege, one would hope that Charlie Sheen would take a cue from someone like fellow actor, Robert Downey, Jr., and conquer his demons and self-destructive ways once and for all.

If not, then Charlie Sheen will likely become yet another Hollywood tragedy. A gifted actor, so full of talent and promise whose legacy will be nothing more than a life lost to wanton excess, entitlement and self-destructive addiction.

Sources: TMZ.com
People.com
Wikipedia
Examiner