I. Penn, Sean /pen, ʃɔːn/ BrE AmE
(1960–) an American film actor, ↑ director , and ↑ producer . Films he has appeared in include Dead Man Walking (1995), I Am Sam (2001), and Mystic River (2003) for which he received an Oscar. Films he has directed include The Indian Runner (1991) and The Pledge (2001). His first wife was the POP SINGER Madonna. He is known for his political ACTIVISM and for his criticism of George W. Bush and the war in Iraq.
II. Penn, William BrE AmE
(1644–1718) an English leader of the ↑ Quaker s (=a Christian religious group) , who was put in prison for having unacceptable religious beliefs. After he was let out of prison, he was given some land in North America, and he established a ↑ colony there as a place of religious freedom for Quakers and others to go and live in. He called the colony ↑ Pennsylvania , and planned and built the city of ↑ Philadelphia in 1682.