Martin Sheen to talk life, career today

Martin Sheen, actor and political activist, will speak with Jonathan Michaelson, chairman of the Department of Theater and Drama, about his life and career in a lecture titled “An Evening with Martin Sheen” at 7:30 p.m. today at the IU Auditorium.

Admission for Sheen’s program, part of the Ralph L. Collins Memorial Lecture Series, is free. A number of tickets are still available at the auditorium box office.

Maria Talbert, events coordinator for the auditorium, said both the auditorium and the theater department brought in Sheen in an effort to present speakers that are both well-known in their fields and interest local residents.

“We have, over the last couple of years, worked with them in bringing artists to the auditorium that would attract a larger audience,” Talbert said. “Last year, we had Stephen Sondheim. This is in keeping with that goal to bring in folks that would attract and bring in a wide variety of people in the area.”

Sheen, the patriarch of one of Hollywood’s most well-known families — his sons Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez both act — is known for roles both on the big and
small screens.

Sheen rose to fame with his portrayal of Captain Benjamin Willard in “Apocalypse Now,” and later garnered critical and commercial praise for his role as the President in NBC’s “The West Wing.”

Sheen is also an outspoken political activist. Over the course of his career, Sheen has spoken for and led movements against abortion, capital punishment and the genocide in Darfur, among others.

Sheen was arrested in 2007 for trespassing on the Nevada Test Site during a Nevada Desert Experience event protesting against nuclear testing.

Sheen has also campaigned for a number of presidential candidates, including Howard Dean and John Kerry.

The lecture series is named after Ralph L. Collins, who joined the Department of English at Indiana University in 1935. He served as varsity tennis coach from 1940 to 1945 and as Director of the Writers’ Conference from 1941 to 1948. Collins was principally interested in the area of theater.