- - Martin Sheen Recalls His 1961 Wedding to Wife Janet, from Squeezing Vows in Before a Funeral to the 'Blizzard' That Followed

Bailey RichardsDecember 23, 2025 at 9:30 PM

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Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen in 2017 -

Martin Sheen recalled his wedding to wife Janet Sheen in the Dec. 21 episode of his eponymous podcast

The couple wed in a quick ceremony at a New York City church on Dec. 23, 1961, because Janet was pregnant and they had to exchange vows right before a funeral

Martin and Janet share four kids, and will celebrate their 64th wedding anniversary this year

Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen’s nuptials may have been a bit rushed, but their love has lasted a lifetime.

The Apocalypse Now actor, 85, recalled how their quick New York City wedding came to be in the Sunday, Dec 21 episode of The Martin Sheen Podcast, titled, “The Promise.” The couple married on Dec. 23, 1961, just a “few days” after Martin met with a pastor at St. Stephen's Roman Catholic Church to “make the arrangements” to marry Janet, 81.

"He was very kind and helpful and agreed to perform our wedding. However, he explained we would have to wait until after the Christmas season because the Catholic Church did not permit nuptials during Advent,” recalled Martin.

But Janet was pregnant at the time, and the couple wanted to marry as soon as possible.

Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection/Getty Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen in 1980

“When I explained the urgency of our circumstance, i.e. Janet was expecting,” the pastor “offered a compromise,” Martin recalled on the podcast, “suggesting that we attend the regular 8:00 a.m. mass the following Saturday, and immediately afterwards, he would perform a very quiet, private ceremony in the sanctuary with our witnesses.”

When Dec. 23 rolled around, it began as “an unusually warm and sunny Saturday morning,” Martin said. Along with their best man and maid of honor, he and Janet headed to mass, after which he said he spotted the pastor “urgently signaling me to join him.”

“I rushed up and listened as he quickly explained in a hushed tone that since we had made the arrangements, a parishioner had died and the funeral was about to begin,” Martin said. “So, we had to make our vows as quickly as possible.”

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Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen

And so they did, Martin said, recalling how the pastor spoke quickly — and encouraged even quicker responses — from the Ohio natives during their nuptials.

The rushed vows also meant that the couple didn’t have time to go find the few friends they had invited to the ceremony — though they celebrated with them after, according to the actor.

“It was all very disarming and very funny, to say the least, until we remembered our friends,” he said, recalling that the group then “dashed down the block” where they spotted the would-be attendees outside, watching “a casket being carried up the steps into the church.”

“They thought we had planned the whole thing as a joke on them,” the actor said of the couple’s friends. “But when we explained what happened, they were delighted and produced two bottles of champagne.

The wedding party then enjoyed the bubbly with their breakfast at a nearby delicatessen, where Martin knew the owner, he said.

Frank Edwards/Fotos International/Getty The Sheen family in 1982

“It was a wonderful improvised celebration we would not soon forget. But as we headed home afterwards, I noticed a sharp difference in the weather,” said Martin. “It was now gray overcast and much colder with light snow flurries blowing about.”

“We both love walking in the snow in New York City and we welcomed this as another special wedding gift,” said Martin. Except the flurries eventually became a “blizzard,” which he braved to make it to an 8 p.m. show he was starring in — only to learn upon arrival that the show had been cancelled due to the weather.

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Martin Sheen and Janet Sheen in 1992

Martin and Janet went on to welcome four children together: sons Emilio Esteves, Charlie Sheen and Ramón Esteves and daughter Renée Estevez, all of whom followed in their father's footsteps and pursued acting.

The couple returned to the site of their wedding in 1997 when Renée got married in St. Stephen's as well, according to Martin.

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Source: “AOL Entertainment”