There’s Ferris Bueller’s Day Off and Major League. Being John Malkovich and Machete Kills. Charlie Sheen has appeared in a whopping 69 films. That’s in addition to his highly successful turn in the sitcom Two and a Half Men.
At his peak, he made $2 million an episode for the hit CBS show, but his addiction to alcohol and cocaine as well as gambling ended up getting him fired from the sitcom.
The hard-partying, cocaine-injecting, womanizing, living-dangerously actor has had more than his share of bumps in the road.
Sheen was diagnosed with HIV in 2011, around the time of his dismissal from Two and a Half Men. However, he didn’t publicly reveal his diagnosis until this past November. Just this week, he announced a new diagnosis: bipolar disorder.
On The Dr. Oz Show on Monday, in an interview taped in Sheen’s home, the actor stopped short of admitting he had the mental illness but alluded to the fact that he had been diagnosed before.
Dr. Oz: Do you have a lot of ups and downs? You know, emotionally, coping with the world?
Charlie: Yeah, yeah, I do. But they’re not as severe as they used to be.
Dr. Oz: Have you ever thought that maybe you were manic?
Charlie: Yeah I’ve been described as that. I’ve been diagnosed as that.
Dr. Oz: You’ve been diagnosed by who?
Charlie: Certain medical opinions that I might be bipolar.
Dr. Oz says in a voiceover: “He inferred that he might be bipolar but laughingly called it ‘genius disease’ and said he didn’t want medication to help treat it.”
Leading up to this moment, Sheen has had a fabled history of erratic behavior and drug abuse.
In the spring of 1998, Sheen suffered a stroke brought on by cocaine overdose.
Sheen assaulted his third wife, Brooke Mueller, on Christmas Day 2009. In court, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault and was sentenced to 30 days in a drug rehab, 30 days of probation, and 36 hours of anger management.
On October 26, 2010, the police ejected Sheen from his suite at the Plaza Hotel in New York, after he reportedly caused $7,000 in damages.
Then there was his public meltdown in 2012. He did a series of television interviews following his dismissal from Two and a Half Men.
Seeming manic in these appearances, he boasted that he was a “warlock” with “tiger blood” and “Adonis DNA.” He declared that he was “winning.” He associated with porn stars and posted clips of himself smoking cigarettes through his nose on YouTube.
Delusions of grandeur were on full display in an interview on The Today Show when Sheen said, “I’m tired of pretending like I’m not a total bitchin’ rock star from Mars.”
In the same interview, he said the following: “I’m on a drug. It’s called Charlie Sheen. It’s not available because if you try it, you will die. Your face will melt off and your children will weep over your exploded body.”
The Dr. Oz Show interview continued in the television host’s studio.
Dr. Oz: That was a profoundly important conversation, because you raised the possibility that you have a mania. That [a chemical imbalance] may make you prone to addiction [and] the many challenges that you faced.
Charlie: Uh. Part of that is true… My only experience with manic behavior is usually in the throes of deep partying. Deep substance abuse and drinking.
And it’s a thing how I answered that question. I’ve been described as or diagnosed by enough people that… and I guess at some point you have to take a look at it, if it keeps walking like a duck. And I’m not opposed to investigating that aspect of myself. I’ve come this far, may as well just fix it all, right?
The studio audience applauds.
Click below to watch the Dr. Oz Show clip.
