When Charlie Sheen wanted his then-13-year-old daughter taken to a hair appointment as a result of he was too drunk to drive, he turned to his sober pal, Tony Todd.
When Sheen needed to satisfy Carlos Estévez as a result of the foremost league pitcher shared Sheen’s given identify, he turned to his related pal, Tony Todd.
When Sheen was within the throes of a crack dependancy, fired from his starring function on “Two and a Half Men” and in want of an unwavering voice of encouragement, he turned to his non-judgmental pal Tony Todd.
“There are so many fake friends in Charlie’s life,” Todd stated. “I’ve been there for him since we were little kids. The cool thing is, we’ve never had an argument.”
Due to the current Netflix documentary “aka Charlie Sheen” and publication of “The Book of Sheen” memoir, Todd’s 50-year friendship with the mercurial actor has been revealed to the world. Todd’s social media accounts have since been flooded with reward from viewers far and vast.
“I had to reach out immediately to say you were and remain an angel from heaven.”
“You are the friend we would all like to have man, greetings from Spain!”
“Dear Tony, If you ever visit Istanbul, it would be our honor to host you in our hotel…. You are not only a great actor but also a true friend.”
“You … are a stellar human being [heart emoji].”
Todd and Sheen have been buddies since they bonded via baseball, first on Little League fields in Malibu, then on the Santa Monica Excessive College workforce, then whereas taking batting follow in Sheen’s posh indoor batting cage, then whereas placing on power-hitting shows at native highschool fields and even Dodger Stadium.
And their friendship unfold into their personal lives, with Todd serving as finest man on the first two of Sheen’s three marriages and serving as a drug-free wingman even when Sheen descended right into a chaotic, self-destructive morass of cocaine, alcohol and reckless intercourse.
“There’s never been a call he hasn’t answered, there’s never been a crisis he didn’t help solve,” Sheen stated in a telephone interview. “Tony Todd has always been a friend, and a true one.”
The documentary “aka Charlie Sheen” is a first-person tell-all, with the narrative helped alongside by Sheen’s oldest brother, Ramon, childhood neighbor Sean Penn, “Two and a Half Men” co-star Jon Cryer and govt producer Chuck Lorre, drug vendor Marco Abeyta and ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller.
And, in fact, Todd. He laughs. He cries. He exudes honesty and empathy.
“He’s just one of my favorite people to have around in any situation,” Sheen stated.
All of it definitely has made Todd — to not be confused with the actor of the identical identify who starred in “Candyman” and died a yr in the past — fame-adjacent.
Though he has loved a profession that features performing/stuntman roles in each “Black Panther” motion pictures and performing roles within the film “Little Big League,” the TV present “Anger Management” and greater than two dozen nationwide commercials, Todd is finest recognized in Santa Monica because the dude who can’t say no to volunteer fundraisers and sports activities an arrogance license plate that reads “NVR KWT.”
Simply this summer season he helped increase $10,000 for Santa Monica Little League by internet hosting an out of doors screening of “Little Big League” and tapping into his huge contact listing of professional athletes and A-list entertainers to draw silent-auction gadgets.
And Todd was hailed as a “real hero” by authorities after he gave $700 to a household of 5 who had been robbed of their lease cash in Lancaster in 2018. He was “so moved by the family’s story” that he jumped in his automotive and drove from Santa Monica to the excessive desert to hand-deliver the cash.
His friendship with Sheen resonates with many, partially as a result of Todd professes by no means to have taken a drug or a drink. Sheen, in fact, was the poster man-child of substance abuse till turning into sober in December 2017, the day he relinquished his automotive keys to Todd to drive his daughter Sami to a hair salon appointment in Moorpark.
When Sheen was hooked on crack, Todd moved into his pal’s Mulholland Estates home in Beverly Hills. Even then, Sheen wouldn’t smoke the drug in Todd’s presence, and so they typically would finish evenings watching MLB Community or ESPN’s “Sports Center.”
“I didn’t do hard stuff in front of him, just out of respect,” Sheen stated.
Todd wept in “aka Charlie Sheen” when he defined why he continued to dwell along with his pal figuring out the actor was typically smoking crack within the subsequent room.
“I just can’t leave him to die,” he stated.
Happier instances occurred once they would head to a ball area to hit. Years earlier, after struggling a shoulder harm, Sheen had discovered to bat left-handed, taking 100 or so swings a break day an Iron Mike pitching machine in his indoor batting cage.
Whereas filming a DirecTV business at Dodger Stadium in 2007, Sheen stepped into the batter’s field throughout a lunch break and crushed a pitch over the right-field wall. Todd whooped and hollered, in no small half as a result of he had guess a Dodgers worker that his buddy would go deep.
“I knew it was going to happen because of all the [batting practice] we’d been taking,” Todd stated.
Sheen additionally elevated his energy by taking large doses of testosterone, which he mentions within the documentary and alluded to in a 2015 interview when he stated his HIV-positive analysis wasn’t the rationale for his epic meltdown in 2011 after he was fired from “Two and a Half Men.”
“I wish I could blame it on that, but that was more of a ’roid rage,” stated Sheen, who earlier had admitted he took steroids forward of filming the 1989 hit film “Major League,” through which he performed pitcher Ricky (Wild Factor) Vaughn.
Todd had a video shot of batting classes at Oak Park and Santa Clarita Hart excessive faculties round 2008. Sheen hit a house run Todd estimated traveled 445 toes at Oak Park and hit a barrage of homers at Hart within the presence of Corridor of Fame slugger Eddie Murray and the Hart Excessive workforce.
Todd adopted Sheen’s energy show at Hart with a house run of his personal. Todd was a talented-enough baseball and soccer participant to earn a double scholarship to USC, though a severe harm his senior yr in highschool price him the free journey.
His baseball skill landed him the function of Mickey Scales in “Little Big League” and his astonishing velocity delighted Sheen even into their 40s. Throughout one in every of their batting classes at Oak Park Excessive, Todd was challenged to a race across the bases by an onlooker.
Sheen informed the person to start out the race at second base whereas Todd began at house plate.
“By the time they rounded third, Tony had passed him, and after touching the plate he grabbed a glove and pretended to tag the guy when he reached the plate,” Sheen stated, laughing.
Todd served as a baseball coach at Santa Monica Excessive for a number of years, and in 2013 he lobbied for the college to award Sheen his diploma — the actor had been 1½ credit quick 30 years earlier and hadn’t graduated.
Todd reached out to his pal Ross Mark, who dealt with bookings for “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” and so they concocted a plan to have Sheen on as a visitor and for Leno to shock him with the diploma.
Todd walked on stage with the diploma and Sheen — who had rapidly donned a cap and robe — gave him a hug, his lifelong pal having successfully smoothed over yet another tough patch in his life.
