How much is Martin Sheen worth?
| Net Worth: | $85 Million |
|---|---|
| Profession: | Professional Actor |
| Date of Birth: | August 3, 1940 (age 82) |
| Country: | United States of America |
| Height: | 5 ft 6 in (1.7 m) |
About Martin Sheen
As famous as his kids are, they still can’t hold a candle to the majesty of Martin Sheen’s acting peak. In the 1970s, Sheen’s young and lean physique, along with his acting prowess, got him starring roles as captains and criminals, most famously in Badlands and Apocalypse Now.
In the actor’s later years, Sheen has continued to dazzle audiences on TV, winning dozens of awards including a Golden Globe for his role in The West Wing, and moving on to Netflix starring in almost 80 episodes of Grace and Frankie. Sheen can also be heard all over TV, as he has over 40 narration credits to his name!
Sheen’s first big break was getting the lead role in Terrence Malick’s now iconic movie Badlands, which is loosely based on the murder spree of Charles Starkweather and Caril Ann Furgate in the late 1950s. Badlands is one of the most well reviewed movies of all time and the film’s first showing at the New York Film Festival in 1973 even overshadowed Martin Scorsese’s classic, Mean Streets.
After that, Sheen became the token cool character of a boatload of 70s movies, but his biggest success came off the heels of working with filmmaking heavyweight, Francis Ford Coppola. Apocalypse Now is an epic war film, one of the first of its kind, and Coppola claimed that it would be the first ever film to win a Nobel prize. The making of the film took years and constantly made headlines in papers for the questionable actions during the filming of the movie.
A documentary of the making of the movie, Hearts of Darkness, was even released decades later.
The 1990s brought Sheen even more fame than having a leading role in a Coppola movie, as if that could be possible. Sheen was cast as the president of the United States in The West Wing, a political drama helmed by the celebrated writer Aaron Sorkin. For its full seven years on air, the show remained consistent in its viewership numbers rarely ever dipping.
Not only that, but it was overwhelmingly popular, averaging nine million viewers per season, and reaching over 11 million viewers during its peak.
Besides The West Wing, Sheen also starred in Anger Management alongside his son, Charlie Sheen for 20 episodes, and is now one of the lead actors in the Netflix original series, Grace and Frankie, which has been going strong for six seasons.
Sheen has featured on TV a lot more than any other movie star, almost foreseeing the shift that actors would take in the late 2000s and 2010s.
Needless to say, Sheen is also undeniably famous for being the father of Emilio Estevez and Charlie Sheen, with the latter often making headline news for his outbursts, interviews, and personal life even more than for his phenomenal movie performances. However, it barely seems to have tarnished the family name, as most people find it entertaining and let’s not forget Charlie Sheen is an incredible actor.
With Sheen’s packed career, he has built a gigantic wealth for someone who isn’t regularly taking lead movies roles. When it comes to his movies roles, none of his pay checks are available, but a quick glance at some of his movies’ performances at the box office prove that he must have been paid handsomely. Apocalypse Now made about $150 million worldwide, and after 41 years, that $150 million would be worth over $530 million today, adjusted for inflation. The Amazing Spider-Man is Sheen’s biggest box office hit, making $758 million globally.
Most of the actor’s wealth undoubtedly comes from serving as the lead actor for seven years on The West Wing. For the first four seasons of the show, Sheen was on a salary of an estimated $150,000 per episode, and as that was for a total of 90 episodes, the actor made an estimated $13.5 million. If that wasn’t enough, for its final three seasons Sheen made an estimated $300,000 per episode, earning $19.8 million for just 66 episodes.
For the longest time, Sheen was the king of cool and earned several roles based on the fact that he was the next James Dean. Part of his cool persona comes from the way he flipped on his denim jacket in Badlands, and it’s something he continues to do, even flipping on his suit jacket as the president in The West Wing. However, the reason he flips his coat like that is due to a rare problem he has had with his arm since birth. But you could say that it’s that very problem that has afforded him such cool roles. Believe it or not, Sheen is not the surname he was born with.
The actor was born Ramon Gerard Antonio Esteves, but Sheen thought he would be less likely to get work with that name. He adopted the more action hero sounding Martin Sheen when he first began acting. Though there is no way to measure how much more success he has had from changing his name, it’s a procedure that a lot of actors go through.
In his later years, his distinguished old man look and voice has helped him take on roles of somewhat of an elder-statesman, and somebody that the protagonists in movies look up to. He took on the role of uncle Ben, Peter Parker’s father figure in The Amazing Spider-Man, played Queenan, the father figure in The Departed, and again in Steven Spielberg’s Catch Me If You Can.
And of course, Sheen played Josiah Bartlett, the president of the United States, for 140 episodes on The West Wing. Sheen also works with the greatest directors of all time, including Terrence Malick, Francis Ford Coppola, David Cronenberg, Martin Scorsese, and Steven Spielberg. And like Morgan Freeman, his lecturing but soothing voice has awarded him tonnes of work in narrating documentaries.
Sheen’s Total Net Worth
Martin Sheen appeared in 155 episodes as President Josiah Bartlet in The West Wing. For his involvement he earned $150,000 per episode from seasons one through four. His per episode salary was then increased to $300,000 per episode for seasons five through seven.
In total, it is estimated that Sheen earned around $33 million dollars from the The West Wing. He has also earned an estimated $110 million from his other appearances in TV series and films. That figure also includes his behind the scenes work, including producing and directing, as well as all of the appearances that he has made as himself, including in advertising.
Having been based in California, he currently lives in Santa Monica, Sheen will have paid some of the highest tax rates in the country over his career. His pre-1981 work was all taxed at around 65-70%. After the Reagan tax cuts it still took five years for taxes to come down from 50% for someone like Sheen, it was a relief however, because he was used to paying around 70% in federal taxes alone.
Sheen has also caught tax breaks, as well. Earnings from The West Wing will have been taxed at around 35% federally. Overall, however, it is still estimated that when including California state tax, he will have been taxed at about 50% on his total career earnings, maybe more.
After tax, it is estimated that Martin Sheen’s total career earnings of $143 million have become around $71.5 million. He having paid about the same amount, $71.5 million dollars, in taxes.
Martin Sheen married Janet Sheen in 1961 and they remain together. They have four children together, Emilio Estevez, Ramon Estevez, Charlie Sheen and Renée Estevez. While Martin Sheen’s personal life may have been troubled with alcoholism and “smoking three packs of cigarettes a day,” that was a long time ago. Today, Sheen has strong family and religious values and has furthered his education, reading on the topics of English literature, philosophy and theology.
It is estimated however that Martin may have spent a little more money in his personal life than one might at first expect. That is relating to family emergences and so on, as well as miscellaneous payments, and including money that he will have spent freely on himself and his family. It is estimated that Sheen may spent in the region of $15 million dollars.
In business and investing, Sheen has bought real estate in Santa Monica and other places in Los Angeles. It is also likely that he has earned well from his other investments, as well. Somewhere in the region of $30 million dollars is what is being estimated as Sheen’s financial investment gains, after costs, losses and fees. In total, therefore, Martin Sheen has a net worth of around $85 million dollars.
Summing-Up
Thanks to his non-stop work on TV, Martin Sheen has an estimated net worth of $85 million. The actor continues to remain busy as he has several projects in the works, including starring in Judas and the Black Messiah alongside Lakeith Stanfield, set for release later this year. Sheen is also set to release 12 mighty Orphans, a sports biopic about Doc Hall, and is his first leading role in a movie in years.
