Sean Penn - Controversial Star

Paper Summary:

This paper studies the life of Sean Penn, actor and later director. It first briefly describes his father's acting career and how it was cut short because of his "communist" activities in the 1960's and how he was black-listed. It continues to compare Sean Penn to his father, focusing on Penn's bad-boy image which is highlighted by his marriage to pop-star Madonna and a one-month jail stint for assault. It mentions many of the movies that Penn starred in or directed and shows how through all of these he continued to make political and controversial statements.

From the Paper:

"It could be said that celebrity activism is a family affair for Sean Penn, celebrated Hollywood actor and director. Before Sean was even born his father, Leo Penn, who was an actor on Broadway and in films in the late 40s, used his celebrity to make social statements. Leo was blacklisted for a decade in the 1950s for refusing to give names to the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) of those in the Hollywood community with communist ties.
Supposedly one of Sean's earlier memories is of his father taking him to the set of The Last Tycoon near to the family home. There the director, Elia Kazan, someone who had named names at the hearings, tried to say hello. But Leo, normally warm and friendly, walked straight past, a point of integrity his son could not fail to notice. Unlike many of the blacklisted actors of the time, Leo's entertainment career survived his political stance and he went on to make a name for himself behind the camera, in television rather than feature films. During his career, he directed than 400 hours of prime-time television programming, including episodes of Bonanza, Ben Casey, Starsky & Hutch, Magnum P.I., Columbo, Kojak, and St. Elsewhere. "

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