Charlie Sheen follows wife on rehab road

Actor Charlie Sheen smiles at the CBS summer press tour party at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California, July 15, 2006. Sheen stars in the CBS sit-com ''Two and a Half Men''.

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Charlie Sheen, star of U.S. television's hit comedy "Two and a Half Men," has followed his wife and entered a rehabilitation facility as the couple try to put their lives back together after a violent Christmas Day argument.

Sheen, 44, checked in for undisclosed reasons in what his publicist on Tuesday called "a preventative measure," causing his top-rated CBS TV show to temporarily suspend production.

Sheen's third wife, Brooke Mueller, has also been in a rehab facility in the Los Angeles area for the past few days, according to news reports. Mueller, 32, is said to be undergoing treatment for substance abuse.

Sheen was charged earlier this month with assaulting and threatening Mueller on December 25 during a family vacation in Aspen, Colorado. Mueller called police and told them Sheen had pulled a knife on her and threatened to have her killed when she said she would divorce him.

Celebrity news website TMZ.com has said that both were drinking, according to alcohol tests. Sheen is free on bail pending a further hearing on March 15, although Mueller has said repeatedly she wants the case dropped and the two are attempting to reconcile.

"As a preventative measure, Charlie Sheen has entered a rehabilitation facility. He will take some time off from his series 'Two and a Half Men.' He has asked that his privacy be honored. No further statements are planned," publicist Stan Rosenfield said in a statement on Tuesday.

Rosenfield did not immediately return calls for further comment. TMZ.com said Sheen would spend two weeks in rehab.

Sheen plays a womanizing bachelor in "Two and a Half Men," the top-rated comedy on U.S. television. He had continued to work on the show in Los Angeles while out on bail.

CBS and the show's creator said in a statement on Tuesday that they "support Charlie Sheen in his decision today to begin voluntary in-patient care at a treatment center. We wish him nothing but the best as he deals with this personal matter."

They said shooting would be temporarily suspended. Production for the remainder of the 2009-10 season was due to end in April, industry sources said.

The actor, whose film credits include "Platoon" and "Wall Street," has previously been accused of violence. He pleaded no contest to a 1997 battery charge on his then girlfriend -- and in 2006 his second wife -- Denise Richards, and she obtained a restraining order against him.

Sheen and Mueller married in 2008 and have infant twin sons.

(Editing by Bob Tourtellotte and Todd Eastham)