Martin Sheen will always be President Josiah “Jed” Bartlett to me. I was late coming to The West Wing bandwagon, but it was better than never. I’m actually glad I didn’t get into the series until the third season, because I think the first two seasons sucked, and the stories and the quality of acting got better with each year the series progressed. All of this is to say, Martin Sheen can do no wrong in my book. The way he portrayed Pres. Bartlett’s flawed humanity, the constantly superior acting on that show, and on and on, have all given Sheen a lifetime pass in my book.

So I found this story a little funny – Martin Sheen is a little senile. He ran into Paul Abdul and didn’t recognize her. Which would be fine for anybody else, but Paula Abdul used to be Martin’s daughter-in-law. She was with Emilio Estevez for years about two decades ago. Martin rescues himself, though, because he calls Paula “a very beautiful young woman”. He’s so sweet (and a little senile):

Veteran actor Martin Sheen has such a bad memory, he once brushed off a meeting with singer Paula Adbul – after failing to recognise his former daughter-in-law.

The screen legend was at a fundraising gala several years ago when he was greeted by his son Emilio Estevez’s ex-wife Abdul.

But Sheen had trouble recalling exactly where he knew the familiar face from, much to her disappointment.

He explains, “About 10 or 12 years ago I was at a fundraising event in Beverly Hills… and a very beautiful young woman appeared right here at my elbow and said, ‘Hi Martin, how you doing?’”

“I turned around and said, ‘Hey, how you doing?’ and I kept walking and she got in front of me and said, ‘Martin, you don’t remember me?!’ and I was like, ‘Look, I’m gonna be direct. I know I know you, but I’m afraid I don’t know from where, so please just tell me.’ “And she said, ‘I’m Paula Abdul.’ She was married to one of my children! Naturally she was very upset but she’s a very good sport about it!”

Abdul split from actor Estevez in 1994 after two years of marriage.

[From PR Inside]

Sounds like both Paula and Martin behaved in a very nice way. It seems Paula was honored to be forgotten by Martin Sheen. If I hadn’t already heard this story and someone came up to me and said “Martin Sheen and Paula Abdul meet randomly somewhere, and one of them can’t remember where they know the other from. Who is it?” I would have guessed Paula. She’s on something, right?

Here’s Paula meeting fans outside Koi restaurant in West Hollywood on March 10th. Images thanks to WENN .