Martin Sheen, the father of Charlie Sheen from Two and a Half Men, is an actor best known for his roles in the dramas Grace and Frankie and The West Wing.
However, it was during filming the psychological war thriller Apocalypse Now that the actor encountered a serious physical condition that would plague him for the following nearly 40 years.
In addition to Sheen, prominent performers Marlon Brando, Robert Duvall, and Frederic Forrest appeared in the 1979 film. The film, largely based on the short story Heart of Darkness, tells the narrative of Captain Benjamin L. Willard (played by Sheen), who travels by river from South Vietnam to Cambodia during the Vietnam War.
Due to the remote locations where the film was shot, a community doctor assisted Sheen in remaining stable until he could be taken out of the bush.
The film’s director, Francis Ford Coppola, suffered an epileptic seizure one night after convincing himself that he was to blame for the catastrophe, adding to Sheen’s near-fatal health experience.
