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 Santa Monica, California, to Leo Penn (a film director who was blacklisted for refusing to testify during the McCarthy era) and Eileen Ryan, an actress. Leo Penn was the son of Jewish immigrants from Lithuania and Russia of apparent Spanish extraction, while Ryan (born Eileen Annucci) is a Roman Catholic of Italian and Irish descent. The Penn surname was originally Piñon, but it was changed when his grandfather immigrated to the United States.
Penn has one living brother, musician Michael Penn. Another younger brother, actor Chris Penn, died on January 24, 2006. Personal life Penn's personal life began to attract a lot of media attention when he married pop star Madonna in 1985. The relationship was marred by violent outbursts against the press, including one incident for which he was arrested for beating a photographer. Later in the marriage, Penn was charged with felony domestic assault.
He later pleaded to a misdemeanor charge. After a divorce in 1989, Penn started a relationship with Robin Wright, with whom he had two children, son Hopper and daughter Dylan before they married in 1996. They live in Ross, California. On April 10, 2003, Penn's 1987 Buick Grand National was stolen in Berkeley, California with two firearms in the trunk. Sean also has a 1968 Chevrolet El Camino. Along with Johnny Depp and Mick Hucknall, Sean Penn is part-owner of the Parisian restaurant-bar Man Ray.
His younger brother, Chris, who was famous for playing Nice Guy Eddie in Reservoir Dogs, was found dead in his Santa Monica condominium on January 24, 2006.