by Kimberly Davis

Created on: January 22, 2012   Last Updated: January 23, 2012

Shaun Mark “Sean” Bean was born on April 17, 1959 in Sheffield, England to parents Brian Bean and Rita Tuckwood- Bean. Sean’s father owned a fabrication shop where his mother also worked as the shop’s secretary. The shop was quite reputable and earned the Bean family quite a bit of money. However, instead of moving to a wealthier neighborhood the Bean’s decided they wanted to keep their children Sean and Lorraine closer to their family and friends.

As a youngster Sean broke a glass door after an argument, leaving a shard of glass in his leg that not only left a gaping scar, but also ended his dreams of one day playing professional football.

It was while working at his father’s shop and taking an evening course on welding at Rotherham College of Arts and Technology that Bean came across an art class that looked interesting he left Rotherham and took several art classes at another school but the interest wore off quickly. Bean returned to the welding course at Rotherham only to come across another class that spiked his interest, this one in the drama department. Bean enrolled in several drama courses and excelled; he had found his niche in life. After appearing in some college drama performances Bean applied for and won a full scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts, beginning in January 1981.

Sean Bean graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in 1983 the year in which he also made his debut professionally into acting with the role of Romeo and Juliet’s Tybalt at the Watermill Theater located in Newbury. It was also at this time that he changed the spelling of his name from Shawn to Sean. Bean spent his time on the stage from 1986 through 1988 touring as a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1986, he auditioned for and won his first film role appearing in the Derek Jarman film “Caravaggio” Since the late eighties, Bean has portrayed many different characters both on the stage and on screen in England and the United States. Bean is probably best known for his role of Boromir in the hit film trilogy “The Lord of the Rings.” Bean continues to amaze audiences of both film and stage and his career has been on the uphill slide for the better part of a decade or more. He is living his dreams and has no plans to hang up his acting shoes anytime soon.

Though Bean has certainly been committed to his acting career over the past several years, he has spared some time for a love life. Once voted the number two sexiest man alive, Bean has been married four times, and divorced four times. His first marriage to high school love Debra James on April 11, 1981 ended after nine years in 1990. His second wife Melanie Hill, was an actress whom he had met while attending college and the two married on February 27, 1990. Sean and Melanie became parents for the first time in 1987 when daughter Lorna was born, sister Molly followed in 1991. The marriage to Hill lasted until 1997, also the year he met and married his third wife Abigail Cruttenden. Bean’s third child, daughter Evie was born in November 1998, but he and Abigail divorced two years later. Bean waited several years before tying the knot again until 2008, when he was married another actress, Georgina Sutcliffe. This union, one of the shortest of Bean’s marriages lasting only two short years with the divorce finalized on December 21, 2010. Bean has not remarried for a fifth time, at least not as of early 2012, but there is still plenty of time left for Sean Bean.

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