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ACTOR - Martin Sheen

Celebrities ask Bush to stop war rhetoric LOS ANGELES (AP) — Celebrities mobilized against a possible war in Iraq on Tuesday, gathering to publicize a letter urging President Bush to avoid military action

By Nick Ut, AP

Martin Sheen was among the 100 entertainers who signed a letter to President Bush urging a peaceful approach to disarming Iraq.

More than 100 entertainers signed the missive, which says a war with Iraq will "increase the likelihood of terrorist attacks, damage the economy and undermine our moral standing in the world."

"This notion of pre-emptive war is setting a precedent ... and we must ask ourselves, where does this end?" said Tony Shalhoub, star of the ABC detective show Monk. "Where is the next pre-emptive strike?"

Shalhoub, Martin Sheen and Mike Farrell were among nearly a dozen performers who got together to draw attention to their cause.

Farrell, who's co-starred in the television series M-A-S-H and Providence, said Hollywood was speaking out to show average citizens that it's OK to voice dissent. He also said he did not believe that Bush has proven Iraq is a danger to America.

"It is inappropriate for the administration to trump up a case in which we are ballyhooed into war," Farrell said.

Among those signing the letter were Academy Award winners Kim Basinger, Helen Hunt, Olympia Dukakis, Susan Sarandon and director Jonathan Demme.

Other names included former X-Files stars Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny; The West Wing cast members Sheen, Janel Moloney, Bradley Whitford and Lily Tomlin; CSI: Crime Scene Investigation actors Marg Helgenberger and Robert David Hall; and Ocean's Eleven co-stars Matt Damon, Don Cheadle, Elliott Gould and Carl Reiner.

R.E.M.'s Michael Stipe, Peter Buck and Mike Mills joined fellow musicians Peter Yarrow and Bonnie Raitt.

Bush has threatened military force against Saddam, saying the dictator has amassed weapons of mass destruction that pose a danger to the United States. U.N. weapons inspectors are searching the Middle Eastern country for such devices but have turned up little so far.

Sheen, who plays the president on The West Wing, said he believed Bush was eager to go to war with Iraq because he wanted to settle a personal score with Saddam Hussein.

When Bush's father was president, he ended Saddam's invasion of Kuwait but did not eliminate him in the Gulf War.

"I think he'd like to hand his father Saddam Hussein's head and win his approval for what happened after the Gulf War. That's my own personal opinion — I don't know if that's true. I hope it's not, but I suspect it is," Sheen said.

Asked why the government should care about the feelings of Hollywood actors, Sheen said: "I think the president should care about all citizens."

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Posted on Sat, May. 25, 2002

Martin Sheen and wife selling hillside hideaway
By Ruth Ryon
Los Angeles Times

LOS ANGELES - Martin Sheen, who plays President Josiah Bartlet in the NBC series ``The West Wing,'' and his wife, Janet, have listed a Santa Monica cottage they have used as a pied-a-terre. The asking price is just under $2.2 million.

The house, which Janet Sheen renovated and redecorated, has two bedrooms, a den, a loft and 2 1/2 bathrooms in more than 1,400 square feet.

Built in 1950, the house has been owned by the Sheens for six years. It was described as a ``hippie-type cottage'' when they bought it.

The hillside hideaway, which has ocean and mountain views, has been used by the Sheens as a stopping-off place en route to their longtime home in Malibu.

The cottage was midway if they wanted to go to an event in town, but now that Martin Sheen is doing the series, he is generally too busy to stay in Santa Monica, and his wife is done with the refurbishing and ready for a new project.

Excerpt from:

PEACE WAS COOL by Mark Gunnion

I was standing there soaking in the roar and the sweep of such a huge crowd. A short, smiling guy ran up to me and said, "Look! It's the real preseident(sic) ! Are you going to take his picture? It's Martin Sheen!" I looked up, and there he was, marching along in the middle of the crowd, smiling and chatting with people around him. I called out, "Hail to the Chief!" He was being very gracious as he marched along, posing for photos with people. The Bartlet Administration really has been my government for the past two years, so I was very proud to see him out with us. I jumped out into the tide of people, and worked my way over to him, and smiled at him and waved. Now, I wasn't raised in the South, I never was taught to call people Ma'am or Sir. But I was just so impressed with his being there, I blurted it out: "Thanks for coming, sir!" And he looked at me and said, "Thank you," very warmly. A guy walking beside him had a big dog, and Sheen looked at him and said, "Hey, great dog", and the guy said, "Yeah, another dog for peace." Sheen asked his name, and he said, Chango, and Sheen says, "Ah, Chango, that's one of the Gods!" and he was off into a very Bartlet-like discourse on Santeria cosmology.