The family dynamic also carried darker moments. During the late 1970s, while filming the war epic Apocalypse Now, Martin Sheen suffered a serious heart attack at the age of 37. The health scare deeply affected his teenage son and served as an early reminder of the pressures tied to Hollywood fame.
Despite the unusual home life, Sheen attempted to maintain some normalcy during his teenage years. He attended Santa Monica High School, where one of his classmates was future Oscar winner Robert Downey Jr.. Sheen excelled on the baseball field as both a pitcher and shortstop and developed a passion for collecting sports memorabilia.
