Charlie Harper (Two and a Half Men)
Charles Francis "Charlie" Harper is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists in the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men during the first eight seasons of the series. Played by actor Charlie Sheen, the character of Charlie Harper is loosely based on Sheen himself. The show has garnered him four Primetime Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series and two Golden Globe nominations for Best Performance by an Actor in a Comedy Series. Although the character was written off after the end of the eighth season, the character was reprised for one episode of the ninth season by Kathy Bates, which resulted in her winning the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series and in the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead".
After being expelled from Juilliard School, Charlie moved back to Los Angeles with the intention of becoming a film composer. He met a commercial producer who listened to Charlie's work; thus began his career writing jingles. His most famous composition is the Maple Loops song. He then became a successful composer and singer of children's music under the alias "Charlie Waffles" when the jingle business dried up. He can be frequently seen playing the Steinway grand piano in his living room. The piano was later removed from the house by Walden Schmidt.
Charlie prides himself on his bachelor/playboy lifestyle in Malibu, California and drives a Mercedes, and used to own a Jaguar. He was also thinking of buying a Ferrari F430 or a Bentley. His lifestyle consists of living in a two-story beachfront house, drinking excessively, smoking cigars, womanizing and gambling constantly, and wearing shorts and bowling shirts. He sleeps in constantly and retains a full-time housekeeper, Berta. Money "falls into his lap" as he lives a life of free-spirited debauchery. He has a vast range of phobias, including stage fright, commitment, his mother, spiders, large birds, germs, change, and hard work.
Following Sheen's dismissal from the series in March 2011, the character was written off in the ninth season, with his wife Rose implying he was killed by a train in Paris while on vacation. Charlie's ghost, portrayed by Kathy Bates, returns as a hallucination to Alan, revealing that he is living in Hell trapped in a woman's body. However, in the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead," Rose reveals that Charlie had been alive all along and she was keeping him prisoner in the basement of a house that she purchased in Sherman Oaks after returning to the United States. He escapes from Rose's basement and returns to the beach house. As he rings the doorbell, a piano that is being transported by helicopter falls from the sky, killing him.
Both the character and Sheen's portrayal received a positive reception, with critics and fans feeling he was the best character on Two and a Half Men.
History
When Charlie's mother Evelyn was pregnant with him, his parents thought that he was going to be a girl, since the ultrasound showed no signs of a penis. According to Evelyn, Charlie was always "a little drama queen" when he grew up. After his father died of food poisoning, Charlie and his brother Alan had three stepdads. The first, Harry Luther Gorsky, left Evelyn for a young woman, and Evelyn was also present at his funeral, the second was a twitchy gay man from Texas who called him and Alan "buckaroos", and the third was "the Carpet King", a fat man whom Charlie liked the most because he had "a grateful daughter". Well into his 40s, Charlie believed "the Carpet King" owned a carpeting business until his mother explained that the man's name was actually sexual slang rather than his profession.When Charlie was young, he was embarrassed by his younger brother Alan; on Alan's first-ever day of school, Charlie told everyone at school that Alan was his shaved monkey. He also gave his brother frequent wedgies and bullied him whenever he could. Charlie has dependably had a troubled association with Alan, and would go to all expenses to escape being a decent sibling to him. As a child, Charlie once put a toy in Alan's pocket to shop-lift, and when they got caught, he influenced Alan to assume the fault. Charlie drank a lot when he was a teenager, was a chain smoker, and constantly ran away, nevertheless his mother did not mind because he always came back, and generally did not care about her sons. He once even, when he was 16, drove to Tijuana, Mexico with a school nurse. When he was 17, he almost married a woman whom he thought was the love of his life, but relented. Charlie says that if he did not, he would at that point be married to a "65-year-old retired belly dancer". Charlie constantly criticizes Alan and Jake's presence in his house, but generally seems happy that they are around, because they are the only people who have known him for a long time and accept his unconventional life. When Alan was surprised to find that Charlie did not have their mother's cell phone number in his contacts list, Charlie told him "If I can't eat it, bang it or bet on it, it's not in my phone." On a later episode, it is shown Charlie does have his mother's number. He has it on the speed dial address that he finds appropriate for her, "666".
Charlie and Alan have an estranged relationship with their mother and try to avoid her at all costs; Charlie refers to her as "a Satan". Not much is known about their biological father, Francis Harper, except that when Charlie thinks back he says he was a horrible son to him. Evelyn, even after multiple marriages, still keeps her first husband's name. Charlie also once had a hallucination of his father Francis telling him to take care of his mother, which horrified him, but when he saw an old gangster film, he realized that he "misunderstood"; his father actually wants him to kill her when he can manage this.
Charlie is often unappreciative towards Alan. In one episode he made Alan go on a date in spite of being sick with the flu, merely in order to afford him the opportunity to have "revenge sex". In another episode when Alan got upset in a bookstore and wanted to miss a movie that they were going to see Charlie replied, "So I'm supposed to miss the movie just because you had a nervous breakdown. Don't you think that is a little selfish, Alan?" Furthermore, after Alan's second divorce Alan tells Charlie that he needs him in front of a crowd of people to which Charlie retorts, "Anyone know a Charlie?" He additionally derives enjoyment from rubbing his own success in Alan's face and further worsening Alan's situations just for the fun of it. He is particularly critical about Alan's situation with Judith, especially since he told Alan not to marry her and tried to bribe him with a $1000 prostitute.
While Charlie cares about his nephew Jake and, at the beginning of the show, used him to get dates, he often makes jokes about Jake's apparent lack of intellectual ability, and often states that he is destined to be a doorstop or a fry cook, and states that he is not a kid, but a "gassy dwarf". Nevertheless, it is often shown that Charlie genuinely loves Jake, and sometimes acts like a father to him, giving him advice, that Alan is unable to give. In the episode "Ate the Hamburgers, Wearing the Hats" Jake gets an injury and Charlie goes out of his way to make sure that he's safe. In the episode "The Mooch at the Boo" Jake and his neighbor, a pretty girl named Celeste, disappear together and Celeste's father, ex-football player Jerome, comes looking for them; when they're found kissing, Charlie tells Jerome that he'll take the beating intended for Jake.
Despite his selfish attitude, Charlie can be caring at times. Though Charlie often scolds Alan for being a "sponge", he has continued to provide two out of his three bedrooms to Alan rent-free, and seemingly provides all of his meals, even when the two dine out together. In many occasions, he has stood up to Jake on behalf of Alan when Jake started roasting his father.
Charlie watches a lot of sports on TV, but has little interest in athletics per se; rather, Charlie is a frequent gambler. He watches sports to keep tabs on his investments, and bets on horse races, football matches, etc. Two of his favorite sitcoms are Dharma and Greg and Becker.
Despite his upper class and playboy persona, Charlie can be remarkably naïve about everyday matters. In "Last Chance to See Those Tattoos," Alan observes that Charlie does not really understand how the Internet works. In "I Can't Afford Hyenas," Charlie is shown to have no understanding of how to care for his own living expenses because he entrusts an accountant with managing his cash flow and paying the bills. The accountant reveals his bills cannot be paid because Charlie has no savings due to spending his residual checks on his lavish lifestyle as soon as he receives them. Charlie becomes aware of his financial problems after he receives notices from the bank that his accounts are delinquent, his credit cards are maxed out and his car is in danger of being repossessed. He has never done his own laundry, and has no idea how a washing machine works; he genuinely believes Alan when he sarcastically says that the machine will call him when the cycle is complete. In the final few months of his life after Chelsea left him, he reverts to his old ways: drinking heavily, gambling, smoking marijuana to help him sleep and partying hard for hours. This began to affect him psychologically and physically; he aged considerably, gave himself a bad haircut and broke several toes, and received a black eye from one of his trips to Las Vegas. He eventually admits that his behavior is a way to cope with depression and loneliness.
Reported death
Charlie Harper was reported by Rose to have died in Paris after being struck by a train. The season 9 premiere featured his funeral with one of Charlie's trademark bowling shirts and a pair of cargo shorts hanging by his closed casket. Rose explained that he had proposed to her in Paris and the next few days had been happy, but when she returned from shopping one day, she found him showering with another woman. The next day he fell off a Paris Métro platform and was struck by a train, his body exploding "like a balloon full of meat". It is implied by Rose and suggested by Berta that Rose was responsible for Charlie's death.Aftermath
Following his funeral, Charlie has been frequently mentioned by his surviving loved ones. It tends to be in a disrespectful manner and secrets and previously unknown details about his life emerge.After his funeral his ashes are delivered and Alan decides to spread them on the beach but spills them after being scared at seeing Walden Schmidt at the window, soaking wet. In "Those Fancy Japanese Toilets", Charlie is shown to have kept a private journal. He kept it in a safe deposit box at the bank, and after he died, the bank contacted his mother about it. She gives the journal to Alan, who becomes fascinated with it, as the entries give an insight to a whole new side of Charlie that he never saw before. It is revealed that Charlie had postulated about the various causes of his death, including liver failure and being pushed in front of a bus, and that he questioned his condescending behavior towards women. It's revealed that when Charlie first met his nephew Jake, he believed that he was to have a bright future ahead of him, but secretly thought he was not Alan's biological son. It is also hinted that, despite all the criticism and abuse, he actually idolized his brother and missed him when he moved in with Lyndsey, however he knew at the same time that he would be back "before long".
In "Thank You for the Intercourse", Walden redecorates the house and therefore donates Charlie's piano to an orphanage. Alan suffers a mental breakdown, after realizing how much he misses Charlie and starts to act like him because of it, even picking up women with much success. Jake and Walden are worried about Alan's strange behavior and Walden then brings Alan to a mental institution after tricking him into believing that they were going for a trip to Las Vegas and that he stayed at the Bellagio penthouse suite.
Charlie is re-introduced into the series in the episode "Why We Gave Up Women", portrayed by Kathy Bates. While Alan is hospitalized for a mild heart attack, he awakens to find a strange woman sitting at the foot of his bed, dressed like Charlie and smoking a cigar. She also introduces herself as Charlie. Still not convinced, Alan asks her questions that only the real Charlie could answer, and she does so correctly. Charlie proceeds to explain that he ended up in Hell, and, as part of his punishment, must live eternity in the body of a large, older woman, albeit with a pair of testicles. Charlie advises Alan to turn his life around and become self-dependent for once. After the meeting, Alan decides to rent an apartment, which is very low-grade. The following night, Charlie reappears to Alan, and admits that he did not care if Alan changed, but was happy that even though he is dead, he was finally able to get him out of his house. Later, after Alan fakes a second heart attack, in the hospital, Charlie appears to Jake, trying to hint who he is after addressing him by his old pet name "Tater Head", but Jake fails to understand. Annoyed, Charlie goes back to Hell, escorted by two women, where he wistfully complains about not having a penis anymore.
According to Chuck Lorre, the show's producers were so impressed with Bates performance, that they were considering bringing her back in the recurring role of "Alan's demonic spirit guide". Bates did not return to the show after this appearance.
Charlie is mentioned briefly in the season 10 episode "A Big Bag of Dog", when Walden has an emotional breakdown upstairs in the master bedroom over a breakup, Berta says that Charlie used to have emotional meltdowns over breakups in that bedroom, too. He is mentioned in the season 10 episode "That's Not What They Call It in Amsterdam" when Rose returns, Alan asks Walden if she told him that she was stalking his brother, and again when Rose is unsure whether to date Walden as he lives in Charlie's house, but Walden insists that has nothing to do with Alan or himself. He is referenced to by Walden in "Something My Gynecologist Said" when he is talking about this fake book he is writing, about a man called Alan who lives with his brother in a beach house, but the brother dies by being pushed in front of a train, and a billionaire comes and buys the house. Berta mentions him in "I Scream When I Pee", when saying that she did not think she could work for anyone besides Charlie, but says that Walden is the greatest boss she ever had, after he comes to cheer her up on her birthday and buys her a car. Alan briefly mentions him in "Advantage: Fat, Flying Baby". He is mentioned again in the season 10 finale, "Cows, Prepare to Be Tipped", when Alan reveals that Charlie left Jake two of his last cigars for when Jake graduates college. Alan and Jake smoke them and laugh heartily. In "Big Episode. Someone Stole a Spoon", after a wild party at the beach house leaves an intense mess with wreckage, Walden come out into the living room and says, "It looks like Charlie Sheen's house!", referencing not the character, but the actor himself.
Daughter
In season 11, a woman knocks on Walden and Alan's door, and introduces herself as Jenny, Charlie's daughter, which surprises Alan to the point of shock, as he never knew that he had a daughter, but amuses Walden. According to Jenny, the last time she saw him alive was at her fourth birthday. Hurt because Charlie did not want to marry her, Jenny's mother banned him from ever seeing Jenny again. Wanting to somehow provide for Jenny, Charlie would send a lucrative check to the family every month up until his passing. Alan reveals to Jenny that he kept his brother's ashes and put them in the liquor cabinet. He spills his ashes twice in the same day but is happy when he finds two quarters in them. It is also the first time Walden mentions Charlie by name, after previously only referring to him as "your brother" or "Alan's brother", and he wishes there was something other than Alan that Charlie would have left behind. Berta begins to tell Jenny stories of Charlie's life but Walden stops her and asks if she has any stories for Jenny that do not include drugs, alcohol or hookers, Berta is unable to recall anymore stories than ones that include those things. Later at Pavlov's, Jenny, Walden, Alan and Evelyn toast to Charlie as a father, brother, son and guy who bought his beach house after he was hit by a train.In the second episode, Evelyn tells her boyfriend that she was not the greatest mother to Charlie and Alan, and that she wants to make up for it with Jenny. She asks Jenny if she wants to see pictures of her father at the police station, as they will have more pictures of him than she ever took. Walden talks to Charlie's ashes for the first time in season 11, asking him for a sign of advice on what to do about his love life and thanks him for the house, stating, "you'd have to be on crack to give all this up". Jenny claims that in her entire life, Charlie only wrote to her once asking "Are your friends 18 yet?"
Return
In the series finale, "Of Course He's Dead", Rose confesses that Charlie is not dead but survived her attempt to kill him after she found him having sex with a hooker, a mime, and a goat on their honeymoon. Rose binds and gags Charlie and they return to the United States where she brainwashes him and confines him to a pit under her house in Sherman Oaks. He escapes after four years, collects $2.5 million in royalty money, and sends messages to Alan, Evelyn, and Walden, warning of his imminent return and threatening revenge against them. He also sends Jenny, his former girlfriends, Berta, and Jake generous checks. In the last moments of the finale, Charlie is seen walking to the door of his beach house, when a helicopter is transporting Charlie's grand piano and just as he is about to ring the doorbell of the beach house, the piano drops and Charlie disappears once and for all. No one was particularly happy that Charlie was alive because he was planning to kill them, and because the characters had moved on with their lives and become a closer family unit than they had been when Charlie was alive and lived there.Despite speculation that Charlie Sheen would make a cameo appearance, he does not appear in the program. Instead, Sheen's likeness is depicted via animation as a re-enactment of events when Rose is explaining what happened in Paris and by a stand-in in the last scene which only shows Charlie from behind.
According to showrunner Chuck Lorre, writing in the vanity card that appeared at the end of the episode, Sheen was offered a role in the finale where he would have "walked to the front door in the last scene, ring the doorbell, then turn, look directly into the camera and go off on a maniacal rant about the dangers of drug abuse. He would then explain that these dangers only applied to average people. That he was far from average. He was a ninja warrior from Mars. He was invincible. And then we would drop a piano on him. We thought it was funny. He didn't. Instead, he wanted us to write a heart warming scene that would set up his return to primetime TV in a new sitcom called The Harpers starring him and Jon Cryer. We thought that was funny too."