Martin Sheen (born 1940) is an American professional actor. While he has appeared in multiple films and a notable TV series, ‘The West Wing’ (1999 - 2006) where he played to role of U.S. President Josiah Bartlet, it was the film ‘Apocalypse Now’ (1979) that earned him a nomination for the Best Actor in a Leading Role, a British Academy Film Award given for an actor who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film. He played the role of Captain Benjamin Willard in a war film directed and produced by Francis Ford Coppola (born 1939).

The film follows a river journey from South Vietnam into Cambodia undertaken by Sheen, who is on a secret mission to assassinate Colonel Kurtz, played by Marlon Brando (1924-2004), a renegade Army Special Forces officer accused of murder and who is presumed insane. The film runs for almost 2 1/2 hours and includes a number of other notable actors- Robert Duvall (born 1931) and Dennis Hopper (1936 - 2010).

‘Apocalypse Now” was nominated for 8 Academy Awards (United States) including Best Picture, Best Director (Coppola), Best Supporting Actor (Duvall), Best Writing-Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium, Best Art Direction, and Best Film Editing; it won Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and Best Sound.

The music for the film was composed by American Carmine Valentino Coppola (1910-1991), father of Francis Ford Coppola.

More Info: en.m.wikipedia.org