The son of director Leo Penn and actress Eileen Ryan and brother of actor Chris, Sean Penn was born August 17, 1960, in Santa Monica, Calif. Acting since his teens, Penn apprenticed at L.A.'s Group Repertory Theater.He made memorable dramatic and comedic impressions with his first film appearances in Taps and Fast Times at Ridgemont High. After a string of "troubled youth" roles in the 1980s (Racing with the Moon, The Falcon and the Snowman) and a failed marriage to Madonna, Penn took some time off to pursue directing, starting with The Indian Runner (1991).
He went back before the camera a few years later, with a new maturity in his range that earned him Oscar nominations for Dead Man Walking (1995) and Sweet and Lowdown (1999). As a blue-collar Boston father tormented by his daughter's murder in Mystic River (2003) and California's first openly gay elected official in Milk (2008), Penn received Best Actor Oscar statuettes.
Mystic RiverTragedy reunites childhood friends Sean (Kevin Bacon), Dave (Tim Robbins) and Jimmy (Sean Penn) when they're linked together in the Boston-based murder investigation of Jimmy's teenage daughter. But while detective Sean works the case, Jimmy launches his own quest for the truth. This taut thriller... Read More
MilkSean Penn (in an Oscar-winning role) stars in this fact-based drama about Harvey Milk, the openly gay activist and San Francisco politician who was murdered along with Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) by disgruntled city supervisor Dan White (Josh Brolin) in 1978. Emile Hirsch, James Franco and... Read More
Fast Times at Ridgemont HighWriter Cameron Crowe's coming-of-age classic follows the ups and downs of a group of high school students over the course of a year in 1980s California. The cast includes Sean Penn as a stoner surfer and Jennifer Jason Leigh as a virginal freshman. Read More
I Am SamAfter fathering a child with a homeless woman, Sam (Sean Penn) -- a grown man with the mental capacity of a 7-year-old -- raises the baby himself until an incident at a birthday party finds the Child Protective Services deeming him an unfit guardian. With the help of yuppie lawyer Michelle Pfeiffer,... Read More
21 GramsA tragic car accident brings together three strangers -- a teacher (Sean Penn) with a weak heart, a former drug addict (Naomi Watts) turned housewife and an ex-con (Benicio Del Toro) who's found Christ -- forcing them to face their darkest fears, reevaluate their lives and seek redemption. Alejandro... Read More
