Photo by Lalo Villar/NBC
Everyone
knows Martin Sheen as the Emmy Award-winning star of The West Wing and a
brilliant actor in films like Badlands and Apocalypse Now. And those that
follow his off-screen life are aware that he’s not only Emilio Estevez and
Charlie Sheen’s dad, he’s also an activist. In fact, Sheen told James Lipton on
The Actors Studio that he’s been arrested over 60 times while protesting.
Sheen
recently explored his ancestry for the season three premiere of the
star-studded genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? While it might come as no
surprise that he had activists in his family, one relative made Martin take
pause. In a recent conference call interview he shared his discoveries.
Sheen, born
Ramon Estevez, is of Irish and Spanish descent. He talked about what he
uncovered about his lineage. “I had two uncles on both sides of my parents'
families. My uncle, [Michael Fieland] in Ireland, who was an Irish volunteer
and fought in the War of Independence and then fought against the Free State in
the Civil War from 1921 to '23. And on my father's side my father's brother, [Matias]
had fought against Franco at the onset of his coup and spent an awful lot of
time in jail and in fact received a life sentence that we finally rescinded in
1969. And I had just met him that year.”
In making
these revelations about his family’s history, Sheen couldn’t help but see an
obvious bond. “The connections are just amazing in that they are so deeply
personal. And yes, both of them had risen up against oppression and in one case
a dictatorship in Spain and had suffered mightily for it but stuck to his
principles. And as I say for me maybe this is some unknown quality that I have
possessed. Not the extent that these gentlemen did because they were absolutely
heroic and risked their lives. But the message is clear that maybe this is part
of my DNA.”
Hearing
about the social activism of his forefathers gave Martin a few “uh-huh” moments
on his exploration. He described his mother’s journey to the United States. “She
arrived at Ellis Island in New York City about a week before her 21st birthday
in 1921. She was born in 1903 and we always suspected that she was sent away to
protect her from any harm during the Civil War because it got very, very
intense particularly in Northern Tipperary where she was from. And the fact
that her brother was deeply involved, the whole family had to brace for what
was coming.”
This theory proved to be correct. Martin confirmed, “She spoke Gaelic and it was confirmed during my time in Ireland with the Who Do You Think You Are? people that, yes indeed, she was sent away for her own protection. And she was meant to come back when the fighting stopped and the Republic was established in 1923. And so it was a very, very satisfying moment for me to know that she, too, was involved.”
Sheen also
was impressed with the political passion displayed on his father’s side of the
family. He explained, “My Uncle [Matias] I didn't realize that he was in the
very, very first level of opposition to Franco in Galatea, which was very
pro-Franco at the time. And that is where the coup actually began and Franco
was a Gallego as well and, of course, my father and, of course, my uncles. And
that he stood up to him right in his backyard.”
While Sheen
has had to deal with a few overnight stays for his protest arrests, his uncle
had a far greater burden. Martin acknowledged, “He suffered mightily and he
went to a concentration camp offshore from Tui. And then he was sent to
Pamplona, a major prison in Pamplona for radicals and anyone that opposed the
Franco regime. And there he suffered mightily. And the only good thing that
came out of that was he learned to read and write in that prison in Pamplona.”
Yet with
all the positive political participation on both sides of his family, Sheen
also did unveil a darker side to his ancestry. He disclosed some details about
his fourth removed grandfather, Don Diego Francisco Suarez. “He was a bit of a
dandy and he was a judge in Tui and in a large area of the Galatean Province
and he prosecuted a young lady for a moral crime if you will. And she had to
flee and she came back and she questioned his judgment and stayed in the community
and built a life for herself.”
The Who Do
You Think You Are? team uncovered an unlikely connection. “That young lady
turned out to be my great, great, great, great grandmother who was prosecuted
by the other side of the family. So my great, great, great grandfather
prosecuted my great, great, great grandmother. And that was the biggest
surprise and the most intriguing part of the whole journey.”
The
legendary actor acknowledged that the current generations of his family found
this quite amusing. “They were fascinated with the irony, particularly on my
Spanish side, when we discovered that wretched great, great, great, great
grandfather Don Diego Francisco Suarez. That was a knuckleball that we weren't
anticipating and I took it very personal.” He added, “That was the one that
really grabbed the attention around here in the family and caused quite a bit
of eyebrow raising.”
Watch
Martin Sheen take his journey on the season three premiere of Who Do You Think You Are? on Friday, February 3 at 8 p.m. EST/7 p.m. Central on NBC.
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