"Sean Bean"

Shaun Mark "Sean" Bean (born 17 April 1959) is an English actor of stage and screen. Bean is known for playing Boromir in The Lord of the Rings trilogy and, previously, British Colonel Richard Sharpe in the ITV television series Sharpe. He is also known for his film work playing such roles as Alec Trevelyan in GoldenEye, Jason Locke in Essex Boys, Odysseus in Troy, Ian Howe in National Treasure and Andy McNab in Bravo Two Zero. Bean has also acted in a number of television productions and character roles such as playing Robert Aske in Henry VIII and Eddard Stark in HBO's Game of Thrones. He has also performed voice work for computer games, including Martin Septim in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.

Bean was born Shaun Mark Bean in the Handsworth district of Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, the son of Rita (née Tuckwood) and Brian Bean. Bean's father owned a fabrication shop, which he had set up with a colleague. The business employed 50 people, including Bean's mother, who worked as a secretary. He has a younger sister named Lorraine. Despite becoming relatively wealthy (his father owned a Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow), the family never moved away from the council estate, because they preferred to remain close to friends and family.

As a child, Bean smashed a glass door due to an argument over scissors. It left a piece of glass embedded in his leg that briefly impeded his walking and left a large scar. This accident prevented him from pursuing his dream of playing football professionally. In 1975, Bean left Brook Comprehensive School with two O Levels in Art and English. After a job at a supermarket and another for the council, Bean started working for his father's firm with a day release at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology to take a welding course. While at Rotherham he stumbled into an arts class and decided to pursue his interest in art. After attending courses at two other colleges, one for half a day and the other for less than a week, he returned to Rotherham College, where he came across a drama course for which he subsequently enrolled. After some college plays and one at Rotherham Civic Theatre, he applied for and received a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), starting a seven term course in January 1981.

Arguably, Bean's most prominent role was as Boromir in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy. His major screen-time occurs in the first installment, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. He appeared briefly in flashbacks in the theatre releases of The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King; he also appears in a scene from the extended edition of The Two Towers. Before casting finished, rumours circulated that Jackson had considered Bean for the role of Aragorn, but neither Bean nor Jackson confirmed this in subsequent interviews. Bean's well-known fear of flying, with helicopters, caused him difficulties in mountainous New Zealand, where the trilogy was filmed. After a particularly rough ride, he vowed not to fly to a location again. In one instance, he chose to take a ski lift into the mountains and then hike the final few miles, in full costume complete with shield, armour and sword.

Bean has a tattoo of the English word "nine" written using Tengwar on his shoulder, a reference to his involvement in the Lord of the Rings and the fact that his character was one of the original nine companions of the Fellowship of the Ring. The other actors of "The Fellowship"—Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom, Billy Boyd, Ian McKellen, Dominic Monaghan and Viggo Mortensen—acquired the same tattoo. John Rhys-Davies, whose character was Gimli, also one of the original nine companions, arranged for his stunt double to get the tattoo.

Often described as down to earth, Sean Bean has retained his Sheffield accent, despite now living in London. Partly due to his role as Sharpe, he is also described as a sex symbol. He was voted the UK's second sexiest man in 2004; his Trilogy co-star Orlando Bloom received the highest votes. He admits he does not mind being considered as a "bit of rough" by women. Bean's first love was football and he has been a passionate Sheffield United supporter from a young age; he has a tattoo on his left shoulder that reads 100% Blade. He was a director of the club until December 2007, but decided to "go back to the terraces, where (he) truly belong(s)". He had some issues with Neil Warnock, former manager of Sheffield United, after Warnock claimed that Bean stormed into his office and shouted at him in front of his wife and daughter after the final game of the 2006–07 season, when the club had just been relegated from the Premier League. Bean denies it, calling Warnock "bitter" and "hypocritical". He also wrote the foreword and helped to promote a book of anecdotes called Sheffield United: The Biography. He also follows Yorkshire County Cricket Club.

In addition to his image as a sex symbol and an admitted "bit of rough", Bean has developed a reputation as a loner, a label he considers unfair. He has described himself instead as quiet, and interviewers confirm that he is a "man of few words"; a recent interviewer even called him surprisingly shy. Although he admits he can be a workaholic, in his spare time he relaxes with a book or listens to music, and is a talented pianist. He is also a keen gardener, and does both welding and sketching.

Despite being professionally trained, Sean Bean adopts an instinctive style of acting that some say makes him especially well-suited to portraying his characters' depths. He has said in interviews that the most difficult part is at the start of filming when trying to understand the character. After achieving this he can snap in and out of character instantly. This ability to go from the quiet man on set to the warrior Boromir "amazed" Sean Astin during filming of The Fellowship of the Ring. Other fans include the directors Mike Figgis (Stormy Monday) and Wolfgang Petersen (Troy), who described working with Bean as a "beautiful thing".



Bean has been married and divorced four times. He married his secondary school sweetheart Debra James on 11 April 1981. The marriage ended in divorce in 1988. He met actress Melanie Hill at RADA, and they married on 27 February 1990. The couple's first daughter, Lorna, was born in October 1987; their second, Molly, was born in September 1991. Bean and Hill's marriage ended in divorce in August 1997.

During the filming of Sharpe, Bean met actress Abigail Cruttenden, and they married on 22 November 1997. Their daughter, Evie Natasha, was born in November 1998. Bean and Cruttenden divorced in July 2000. Bean began dating actress Georgina Sutcliffe in 2006. After cancelling their planned January 2008 wedding on the eve of the ceremony for "personal reasons", Bean married Sutcliffe at the Marylebone Register Office in London on 19 February 2008. Amid allegations that Bean physically abused Sutcliffe in 2009, domestic disturbances resulted in the police being called to their home in Belsize Park on three occasions. Bean and Sutcliffe's separation was announced on 6 August 2010, and the divorce was finalised on 21 December 2010. On 9 May 2012 Bean was reportedly arrested over claims he made harassing phone calls and sent abusive text messages to Sutcliffe and was later released on bail.

Bean has yet to receive a major individual award in the film industry. However, he did receive three separate awards as part of the ensemble cast in The Return of the King: from the Screen Actors Guild, the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association all in 2004.

In his home city of Sheffield, he received an honorary doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University in 1997 and a second doctorate, a Doctor of Letters in English Literature from the University of Sheffield in July 2007. Afterward, Bean commented, "I did get a doctorate from Sheffield Hallam University about 11 or 12 years ago so now I'm a double doctor. But this was wonderful, especially from my home city." He was also selected as one of the inaugural members of Sheffield Legends, the Sheffield equivalent of the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He now has a plaque in his honour placed in front of Sheffield Town Hall.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org