Actor Sean Penn has seen his hopes of becoming an author dashed after his first novel was lost in a fire. The Oscar winner had spent months writing the unnamed book, but his only copy was destroyed in the blaze.He says, "It was written on an old typewriter and I had all the pages on my desk but they burned in a fire." Penn launched his acting career in 1981 with the film Taps,which also starred Timothy Hutton and Tom Cruise. Since then he has made over forty movies and is widely regarded as one of the best actors of his generation.However it wsn't until 2003 that he won an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role of grieving father in Mystic River, directed by Clint Eastwood. This was Penn's fourth nomination after recongnition for his role in Sweet and Lowdown, Dead man Walking and I Am Sam.More recently the actor has turned to directing making his debut in 1991 with The Indian Runner. He went on to direct The Crossing Guard in 1995, The Pledge in 2001 and Into The Wild which is released later this year.

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