Charlie Sheen was once a leading man in Hollywood. His new book reveals how it unraveled

A young Charlie Sheen erstwhile had Hollywood successful his pocket, starring successful culture-shaping films for illustration “Wall Street” and “Platoon” earlier yet becoming nan highest-paid character successful television.

But underneath nan glory laid decades of supplier abuse, 7 worried family interventions, innumerable drug-fueled escapades and countless affairs. The actor’s tumultuous travel toward sobriety is unabashedly laid retired successful Sheen’s tell-all memoir, “The Book of Sheen.”

The 359-page book was released by Gallery Books Tuesday. It reveals nan communicative down Sheen's rise, autumn and eventual sobriety successful 2017.

Here are immoderate specifications astir “Book of Sheen.”

What does Charlie Sheen’s book cover?

“The Book of Sheen” originates erstwhile Sheen’s life does, recounting his near-death acquisition during commencement and meticulously narrates his chaotic travel done Hollywood, clip he spent moving from rehabilitation centers, partying pinch celebrities and 3 divorces.

Sheen was raised successful a family afloat of actors. His father, Martin Sheen, recovered occurrence successful nan ’70s, starring successful nan crime play “Badlands” and “Apocalypse Now.”

He spent his puerility creating fabrication films connected a Super 8 movie camera pinch his older brothers, Emilio and Ramon, he describes successful nan book.

“We were trying our champion to mimic Dad’s profession: making nan clone worldly look real, while doing truthful fearlessly,” Sheen wrote.

How did Sheen go famous?

Sheen, 60, calved arsenic Carlos Irwin Estévez to Martin Sheen and Janet Templeton, was exposed to nan acting world early, having grown up connected his father’s movie sets.

The budding character yet took connected nan shape sanction of Charlie Sheen, pursuing his father, who made a akin change. He landed his first awesome acting domiciled successful nan 1986 Vietnam War drama, “Platoon” and starred successful nan crime play “Wall Street” alongside his begetter and Michael Douglas nan pursuing year.

The character yet recovered occurrence successful television, pinch a starring domiciled successful nan celebrated CBS sitcom “Two and a Half Men.” It made him nan highest-paid antheral character connected television, reportedly earning $1.8 cardinal per section during nan show’s eighth season.

Sheen is wide known for his tumultuous master and individual life. He spent nan ’80s and ’90s addicted to intoxicant and difficult drugs, pinch explosive divorces, an HIV test and battle allegations dominating nan tabloids.

“Two and a Half Men” was forced into a hiatus successful 2011 erstwhile Sheen underwent his 3rd rehab attempt. That play was yet canceled and Sheen’s statement was terminated aft he made violative nationalist statements toward creator Chuck Lorre.

Sheen maintained a comparatively debased nationalist floor plan aft his determination to go sober successful precocious 2017.

Sheen's early years of fame

As nan kid and relative of movie stars, Sheen has had celebrated friends and acquaintances for overmuch of his life, from Sean Penn and Rob Lowe to George Clooney and Laura Dern.

By his mid-20s, he had partied pinch Madonna and Jack Nicholson — connected nan aforesaid nighttime — played hoops pinch Michael Jordan, met Bill Clinton erstwhile he was politician of Arkansas and talked shot pinch Reggie Jackson while some were guests astatine Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion.

“Platoon” made him a prima and changed his life, nary wish aliases desire near unmet.

He learned to unrecorded difficult early on, drinking and snorting cocaine successful precocious schoolhouse and conceiving his first kid astatine 18. Around nan clip he filmed “The Rookie,” which came retired successful 1990, loved ones staged nan first of what he writes person been 7 interventions. Among those urging him to cleanable up: Lowe, relative Emilio and begetter Martin, 1 of his inferior precocious schoolhouse teachers, a yoga maestro and nan prima and head of “The Rookie,” Clint Eastwood, who by telephone told him: “You sewage this, conscionable a insignificant velocity bump, spell make maine proud.”

Sheen ushered successful nan '90s by assembling what he called The Jackson 5, a group of men that included Nicolas Cage. He describes successful item nan drug-filled adventures they went connected arsenic they “tested nan ceiling of stardom against nan scope of nan law.”

The Jackson 5 landed him successful rehab for nan first clip and he near a caller man, that is, until a chance brushwood pinch a Foster’s Lager astatine Cage's location precisely a twelvemonth later, which is erstwhile he first collapsed his sobriety.

Sheen's supplier maltreatment

Sheen was first introduced to ace cocaine successful 1992 by a girlfriend, an acquisition that he wrote “rewired my frontal cortex.” He knew past nan supplier could ruin his life, and vowed to ne'er touch it again — a committedness he kept until he began regularly utilizing successful 1996. He tried what he referred to arsenic “dope” astir a twelvemonth after, fixed to him by a registered caregiver he met astatine a party.

His supplier usage “comes down to choices … I didn’t aftermath up pinch a needle sticking retired of my arm, I made nan determination to put it there,” he wrote.

The supplier usage impacted his acting roles. Sheen was almost fired from nan 1997 action drama “Money Talks” aft “a thirty-two-hour cocaine nosebleed” halted filming. His addiction to pills became excessively overmuch to negociate while connected nan group of “Two and Half Men,” arsenic he describes being successful “full withdrawal” by nan mediate of tapings.

Sheen cycled successful and retired of his sobriety for decades, including galore rehab stays that he managed to flight almost each time.

In 1999, he celebrated his first twelvemonth of sobriety while filming “Rated X.” But, he writes that he picked up ace cocaine, on pinch intoxicant and medicine pills, erstwhile again while successful a narration pinch Brooke Mueller, who he joined successful 2008. Their consequent divided successful 2011, coupled pinch nan infamous “20/20" question and reply he did that aforesaid year, which led to his firing from “Two and a Half Men,” pushed him further into his constituent abuse.

After announcing his HIV test to nan world connected nan “Today” show successful 2015, Sheen discontinue difficult drugs, he wrote, but nan intoxicant was harder to shake. The drinking, he thought astatine nan time, was “a friend for life to thief maine navigate nan potholes and landmines nan early had successful store.”

Ultimately, it was a car thrust to an assignment for his daughter, Sam, who was 13 astatine nan time, that sealed his semipermanent sobriety successful December 2017. He had been drinking that greeting and incapable to drive. “There was only 1 point that felt worse than betraying myself, and that was failing my children,” Sheen wrote.

Sheen and Heidi Fleiss

Half measurement done nan book, Sheen describes first gathering Heidi Fleiss, astir famously known arsenic “The Hollywood Madam,” astatine a nine successful 1992. He described nan intoxicating unreserved of hiring telephone girls, knowing there’s an “outside chance of opening nan doorway to handcuffs alternatively of girls.”

Fleiss was later arrested successful 1993, and Sheen, who'd written various checks to her successful return for intersexual encounters pinch women, “cut a woody for immunity.” In return, he provided a recorded grounds against Fleiss, who yet served 20 months astatine national situation successful California.

He describes successful nan book a consciousness of embarrassment for testifying against Fleiss, which was motivated by a fearfulness of a pandering charge, which could've resulted successful 5 years successful jail. If he could spell back, he wrote, “no chance I'd play shot for illustration I did.”

Sheen's marriages and divorces

“The Book of Sheen” describes successful item what led to Sheen's 3 marriages and divorces.

Just earlier nan Fleiss fallout, Sheen embarked connected a whirlwind romance pinch Donna Peele, his first wife, which quickly turned sour soon aft their matrimony successful 1995. He made a drunken spectacle astatine nan wedding, sewage drunk during nan formation location from nan honeymoon — during which nan aviator fto him alert nan level for astir 90 seconds — and threw their wedding rings retired of a sunroof during an explosive fight. “I blasted myself for astir of our dustups, pinch booze being nan easiest culprit to pin it on,” he wrote. “Our business needed a villain to blame.”

Sheen met his 2nd wife, Denise Richards, connected a movie group successful nan early 2000s and reconnected soon after, erstwhile she impermanent starred connected “Spin City.” The brace dated for astir 2 months earlier he proposed, which he said was spurred by nan Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and his three-and-a-half twelvemonth sobriety.

“For nan first clip successful years,” he wrote, “my feelings were accessible and based successful reality.” Right astir nan clip Sheen was formed connected “Two and a Half Men,” Richards had fixed commencement to their daughter, Sam, and their location life was crumbling. Sheen turned to medicine pills and nan 2 divided soon aft their 2nd girl was born.

Sheen gave up pills for a while aft his 2nd divorce. He met Mueller soon after, and nan 2 sewage joined a twelvemonth later. He attributed nan quickness to “feeling truthful overwhelmed, hit down, and outnumbered successful my life.” The mates had copy boys successful 2009 and he began utilizing pills again soon aft that. Mueller, who was besides sober erstwhile they met, began taking them arsenic well, which yet led to them some utilizing difficult drugs.

“The divided from B near maine numb, some successful tone and from nan magnitude of booze and dope I showered my encephalon pinch to quell nan debilitating frustrations,” Sheen wrote. Today, he described his narration pinch Richards arsenic “solid,” and pinch Mueller arsenic “sustainable.”

What does Sheen opportunity astir nan book?

The first statement of his book had occurred to Sheen years earlier he really sat down to constitute nan memoir, he said during a speech Monday pinch character and writer David Duchovny during an arena astatine 92nd Street Y, New York.

“On September 3rd, 1965 successful New York City astatine 10:58 p.m. I was calved dead,” nan character recited from representation connected stage. That near-death acquisition correct astatine birth, caused by an umbilical strangulation, group nan reside for overmuch of nan remainder of his life, Sheen said.

“People ever opportunity you sewage much lives than a cat, right, and they travel successful astatine 9 aliases something,” Sheen said. “So I already sewage — We’re already astatine eight, right?”

The book was released 8 years aft he sewage sober, clip that he said gave them nan region basal to bespeak connected his life experiences.

“I needed this overmuch region betwixt that different life, those different versions of me,” Sheen said. “I don't deliberation that I could've committed to this and delivered nan type of attraction and passion and subject that it required unless I besides had nan distance.”

___

AP National Writer Hillel Italie contributed to this report.