When Charlie Sheen needed his then-13-year-old daughter taken to a hair appointment because he was too drunk to drive, he turned to his sober friend, Tony Todd. When Sheen wanted to meet Carlos Estévez—a major league pitcher who shared Sheen’s given name—he turned to his connected friend, Tony Todd. When Sheen was deep in the throes of a crack addiction, fired from his starring role on *Two and a Half Men*, and in need of an unwavering voice of encouragement, he turned to his non-judgmental friend Tony Todd.
“There are so many fake friends in Charlie’s life,” Todd said. “I’ve been there for him since we were little kids. The cool thing is, we’ve never had an argument.”
Thanks to the recent 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 praise from viewers far and wide.
Messages poured in saying things like:
– “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 pals since they bonded through baseball—first on Little League fields in Malibu, then on the Santa Monica High School team, followed by batting practice in Sheen’s posh indoor batting cage. Their friendship grew as they put on power-hitting displays at local high school fields and even Dodger Stadium.
Their bond extended into their private lives, with Todd serving as best man at the first two of Sheen’s three marriages and acting as a drug-free wingman even during Sheen’s chaotic, self-destructive spiral involving cocaine, alcohol, and reckless sex.
“There’s never been a call he hasn’t answered, there’s never been a crisis he didn’t help solve,” Sheen said in a phone 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 supported by Sheen’s oldest brother Ramon, childhood neighbor Sean Penn, *Two and a Half Men* co-star Jon Cryer, executive producer Chuck Lorre, drug dealer Marco Abeyta, ex-wives Denise Richards and Brooke Mueller—and, of course, Tony 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 said.
It’s important to note that Tony Todd should not be confused with the late actor of the same name who starred in *Candyman* and passed away a year ago. This Tony Todd, while an accomplished actor and stuntman with roles in both *Black Panther* movies, the film *Little Big League*, the TV show *Anger Management*, and over two dozen national commercials, is best known in Santa Monica as the guy who can’t say no to volunteer fundraisers and sports a vanity license plate reading “NVR KWT.”
Just this summer, he helped raise $10,000 for Santa Monica Little League by hosting an outdoor screening of *Little Big League* and leveraging his vast contact list of pro athletes and A-list entertainers to attract silent-auction items.
Todd was also hailed as a “real hero” by authorities after he gave $700 to a family of five who had been robbed of their rent money in Lancaster in 2018. “He was so moved by the family’s story that he jumped in his car and drove from Santa Monica to the high desert to hand-deliver the money.”
Their friendship resonates deeply with many, in part because Todd has professed never to have taken a drug or a drink. Sheen, of course, was once the poster man-child of substance abuse until becoming sober in December 2017—the very day he relinquished his car keys to Todd to drive his daughter Sami to a hair salon appointment in Moorpark.
During Sheen’s crack addiction, Todd even moved into his friend’s Mulholland Estates house in Beverly Hills. Even then, Sheen wouldn’t smoke crack in Todd’s presence, and the two often spent evenings watching MLB Network or ESPN’s *SportsCenter*.
“I didn’t do hard stuff in front of him, just out of respect,” Sheen said.
Todd wept in *aka Charlie Sheen* when he explained why he continued to live with his friend, knowing the actor was often smoking crack in the next room. “I just can’t leave him to die,” he said.
Happier times included their visits to the ball field. Years earlier, after a shoulder injury, Sheen had learned to bat left-handed, taking a hundred or so swings a day off an Iron Mike pitching machine in his indoor batting cage.
While filming a DirecTV commercial at Dodger Stadium in 2007, Sheen stepped into the batter’s box during a lunch break and crushed a pitch over the right-field wall. Todd whooped and hollered—not least because he had bet a Dodgers employee that his buddy would go deep.
“I knew it was going to happen because of all the [batting practice] we’d been taking,” Todd said.
Sheen also increased his strength by taking massive doses of testosterone—a detail he mentions in the documentary and alluded to in a 2015 interview. In that interview, he said his HIV-positive diagnosis wasn’t the primary reason for his epic meltdown in 2011 after being fired from *Two and a Half Men*. “I wish I could blame it on that, but that was more of a ’roid rage,” said Sheen, who earlier admitted taking steroids ahead of filming the 1989 hit movie *Major League*, in which he played pitcher Ricky (Wild Thing) Vaughn.
Todd owns a video shot of batting sessions at Oak Park and Santa Clarita Hart high schools around 2008. Sheen hit a home run Todd estimated traveled 445 feet at Oak Park and blasted a barrage of homers at Hart in the presence of Hall of Fame slugger Eddie Murray and the Hart High team. Todd followed Sheen’s power display at Hart with a home run of his own.
Todd was a talented enough baseball and football player to earn a double scholarship to USC, although a serious injury in his senior year of high school cost him the free ride. His baseball ability landed him the role of Mickey Scales in *Little Big League*, and his astonishing speed delighted Sheen even into their 40s.
During one batting session at Oak Park High, Todd was challenged to a race around the bases by an onlooker. Sheen told the man to start the race at second base while Todd started at home 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 recalled laughing.
Todd served as a baseball coach at Santa Monica High for several years. In 2013, he lobbied for the school to award Sheen his diploma—the actor had been 1½ credits short some 30 years earlier and hadn’t graduated. Todd reached out to his friend Ross Mark, who handled bookings for *The Tonight Show With Jay Leno*, and they concocted a plan to have Sheen appear as a guest so Leno could surprise him with the diploma on air.
Through thick and thin, Tony Todd has proven to be more than just a friend to Charlie Sheen — he’s been a steadfast pillar of support, embodying loyalty, empathy, and unconditional friendship in the face of life’s toughest moments.
https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2025-10-27/charlie-sheen-lifelong-friend-tony-todd-documentary
