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Susan Abigail Sarandon ( ; ; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor. With a career spanning over five decades, she has received accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to nominations for six Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards.
Sarandon made her film debut in Joe (1970) and appeared on the soap operas A World Apart (1970–1971) and Search for Tomorrow (1972). She gained prominence for her role in the musical horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975). After Oscar nominations for Atlantic City (1980), Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and The Client (1994), Sarandon won the Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995). Her other notable films include Pretty Baby (1978), The Hunger (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Bull Durham (1988), Little Women (1994), Stepmom (1998), Enchanted (2007), The Lovely Bones (2009), Cloud Atlas (2012), and The Meddler (2015).
Sarandon made her Broadway debut in the play An Evening with Richard Nixon (1972). She returned to Broadway in the 2009 revival of Exit the King. On television, she had guest roles on the sitcoms Friends (2001) and Malcolm in the Middle (2002) as well as starring roles as an advocate in the HBO film You Don't Know Jack (2010), Doris Duke in the HBO film Bernard and Doris (2008), and Bette Davis in the FX miniseries Feud (2017).
Also known for her social and political activism, Sarandon was appointed a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1999 and received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award in 2006.
When she was four years old, the Tomalin family moved from New York City to the newly developed Stephenville community, located in the northern area of Raritan (now Edison) Township, New Jersey. The family was raised Roman Catholic and she and her sisters attended the all-girls Saint Francis Grammar School in nearby Metuchen, while her brothers attended the all-boys Saint Matthews Grammar School in Edison Township. Her mother was a member and board director of the Stephenville Women's Club and the Terra Nova Garden Club. The family was also member to the Woodside Swim Club, a private swimming club and park in the Stephenville community, where Sarandon and her sisters won many swimming competitions. Sarandon graduated from Saint Francis Grammar School in 1960.
Sarandon attended Edison High School, a public school located in Edison Township. In 1962, while still in high school, she joined a band and dance group to entertain sick children at a nearby rehabilitation hospital. As a high school junior, she performed the lead in the play Lady Precious Stream. As a senior, she played the title character in the comedy My Sister Eileen, earning mentions in the local newspapers. In 1964, Sarandon was inducted into the National Honor Society.
In May 1964, the Tomalin family moved to the newly developed Chandler Hill community, east of Stephenville in Edison. Sarandon graduated from Edison High School in 1964. She attended the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. from 1964 to 1968, earning a Bachelor of Arts in drama, and studying under the drama coach Gilbert V. Hartke. During and shortly after college, she supported herself by emptying bedpans in a hospital,Kleiner, Dick (May 1, 1975). "Susan Sarandon's on way to top". Corsicana Daily Sun. cutting hair, cleaning houses and working as a switchboard operator.
Her most controversial film appearance was in Tony Scott's The Hunger (1983), a modern vampire story in which she had a sex scene with Catherine Deneuve. It was the first mainstream American film to feature such a scene between two star actresses. She appeared in the comedy-fantasy The Witches of Eastwick (1987) alongside Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Michelle Pfeiffer. However, Sarandon did not become a "household name" until she appeared with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins in the film Bull Durham (1988), a commercial and critical success. (2025). 9780970417534, Success Networks. ISBN 9780970417534 Roger Ebert praised Sarandon's performance in his review for the Chicago Sun-Times: "I don't know who else they could have hired to play Annie Savoy, the Sarandon character who pledges her heart and her body to one player a season, but I doubt if the character would have worked without Sarandon's wonderful performance".
Sarandon was nominated for an Academy Award four more times in the 1990s, as Best Actress as Louise Sawyer in Thelma & Louise (1991), Michaela Odone in Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and Reggie Love in The Client (1994), finally winning for Dead Man Walking (1995) in which she played Sister Helen Prejean who regularly visits a convicted murderer on death row. Janet Maslin, in The New York Times, wrote of her performance in the last film: "Ms. Sarandon takes the kind of risk she took playing a stubbornly obsessed mother in Lorenzo's Oil. She's commandingly blunt, and she avoids cheapening her performance with the wrong kind of compassion. Her Sister Helen is repelled and alarmed by this man, but she's determined to help him anyway. That's what makes the film so unrelenting." Sarandon was awarded the Women in Film Crystal Award in 1994. Additionally, she has received eight Golden Globe nominations, including for the films White Palace (1990), Stepmom (1998), Igby Goes Down (2002), and Bernard and Doris (2007).
Her other movies include Bob Roberts (1992), Little Women (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Anywhere but Here (1999), Cradle Will Rock (1999), (2000), Cats & Dogs (2001), The Banger Sisters (2002), Shall We Dance (2004), Alfie (2004), Romance & Cigarettes (2005), Elizabethtown (2005), Enchanted (2007), and Speed Racer (2008). Sarandon has appeared in two episodes of The Simpsons, once as herself ("Bart Has Two Mommies") and as a ballet teacher, "Homer vs. Patty and Selma". She appeared on Friends, Malcolm in the Middle, MADtv, Saturday Night Live, Chappelle's Show, 30 Rock, Rescue Me, and Mike & Molly.
Sarandon has contributed the narration to two dozen documentary films, many of which dealt with social and political issues. In addition, she has served as the presenter on many installments of the PBS documentary series, Independent Lens. In 1999 and 2000, she hosted and presented Mythos, a series of lectures by the late American mythology professor Joseph Campbell. Sarandon also participates as a member of the Jury for the NYICFF, a local New York City Film Festival dedicated to screening films made for children between the ages of 3 and 18.
Sarandon appeared with an all-star cast in The Lovely Bones (2009), directed by Peter Jackson, and worked with daughter Eva Amurri in Middle of Nowhere (2008), That's My Boy (2012) and The Secret Life of Marilyn Monroe (2015). In 2012, Sarandon's audiobook performance of Carson McCullers' The Member of the Wedding was released at Audible.com. She appeared in the films Arbitrage (2012), Cloud Atlas (2012), Tammy (2014), and The Meddler (2015). In 2017, Sarandon portrayed Bette Davis in the first season of FX's anthology series Feud, where she earned her ninth Golden Globe nomination. She also appeared in A Bad Moms Christmas (2017)—the sequel to the 2016 film Bad Moms—as the mother of Carla Dunkler.
In 2018, she joined the "Social Impact Advisory Board" of the San Diego International Film Festival. In 2019, she connected with Justin Willman on Magic for Humans as a special guest on the Christmas episode. In Fall 2022, Sarandon starred in the FOX TV drama Monarch. In 2023, she starred in the DC Extended Universe superhero film Blue Beetle. In 2025, she starred alongside Vince Vaughn in Nonnas, an American Comedy film drama film directed by Stephen Chbosky.
In the 2008 U.S. presidential election, Sarandon and Tim Robbins campaigned for John Edwards in the New Hampshire communities of Hampton, Bedford, and Dover. When asked at We Vote '08 Kickoff Party "What would Jesus do this primary season", Sarandon said, "I think Jesus would be very supportive of John Edwards." She later endorsed Barack Obama.
In the 2012 U.S. presidential election Sarandon, along with film director Michael Moore, said that they were not thrilled with Obama's performance but hoped he would be re-elected. She said she and the administration haven't been allies. "I wouldn't say the White House has taken me under its wing and made me one of its best buddies," Sarandon said.
In the 2016 United States presidential election, she made public her support for Senator Bernie Sanders. On March 28, 2016, in an interview on All In with Chris Hayes, Sarandon indicated that she and other Sanders supporters might not support Hillary Clinton if Clinton were to be the Democratic nominee for president. She stated: "You know, some people feel that Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately. If he gets in, then things will really explode." Hayes inquired as to whether it would be dangerous to allow Trump to become president, to which she replied: "If you think that it's pragmatic to shore up the status quo right now, then you're not in touch with the status quo". On October 30, 2016, she endorsed Green Party of the United States presidential candidate Jill Stein.
In an interview with The Guardian published on November 26, 2017, Sarandon said about Hillary Clinton: "I did think she was very, very dangerous. We would still be fracking, we would be at war if".
Sarandon and Robbins appeared at the 2000 Shadow Convention in Los Angeles to speak about drug offenders being unduly punished. In 2004, she served on the advisory committee for 2004 Racism Watch, an activist group.
Sarandon has become an advocate to end the death penalty and mass incarceration. She has joined the team of people fighting to save the life of Richard Glossip, a man on death row in Oklahoma. In May 2015, Sarandon launched a campaign with fundraising platform Represent.com to sell T-shirts to help finance the documentary Deep Run, the story of a poor North Carolina teen undergoing a gender transition.
On June 28, 2018, Sarandon was arrested during the Women Disobey protests, along with 575 other people, for protesting at the Hart Senate Office Building where a sit-in was being held against Donald Trump's migrant separation policy.
On May 27, 2021, Sarandon tweeted in support of the Palestinian people, in her words, "fighting against the apartheid government of Netanyahu", and of the Israeli people "that they too, will enjoy peace". She expressed support for Palestinian-American model Bella Hadid "for having the bravery to stand in solidarity with her people". She also co-signed an open letter criticizing Israel for labeling six Palestinian human rights groups as terror organizations, and quoted Desmond Tutu on the conflict saying that "true peace can ultimately be built only on justice". Sarandon was the executive producer for Soufra, a documentary that covered the development of a food truck in the Bourj el Barajneh Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut, Lebanon.
In February 2022, some law enforcement organizations criticized Sarandon for sharing a tweet that described a photo of police officers honoring a killed officer as fascism. She later deleted the tweet and posted a message on Twitter to apologize.
Following the Israeli thwarting of several attempts to break its blockade of the Gaza Strip, Sarandon joined the Global Sumud Flotilla, which is planned to be the largest civilian-led aid flotilla to Gaza and to set sail between August and September 2025.
In the mid-1980s, Sarandon dated Italian filmmaker Franco Amurri, with whom she had a daughter, Eva Amurri (born March 15, 1985). They met on the set of Tempest in 1981, but did not get together until she returned to Italy to shoot Mussolini and I three years later. In 2017, Sarandon revealed that she had had an affair with British actor Philip Sayer, who she further revealed had been gay.
Beginning in 1988, Sarandon lived with actor Tim Robbins, whom she met while they were filming Bull Durham. They have two sons: John "Jack" Henry (born May 15, 1989) and Miles Robbins (born May 4, 1992). Sarandon, like Robbins, is a lapsed Catholic, and they share liberal political views. They broke up in 2009.
Following her breakup with Robbins, Sarandon began a new relationship with Jonathan Bricklin, son of Malcolm Bricklin. They helped establish a chain of table tennis lounges named SPiN. Sarandon is the co-owner of its New York and Toronto locations. Sarandon and Bricklin broke up in 2015.
In 2006, Sarandon and ten relatives, including her son Miles, traveled to the United Kingdom to trace her family's Welsh genealogy. Their journey was documented by the BBC Wales programme, . Much of the same research and content was featured in the American version of Who Do You Think You Are? She also received the Ragusani Nel Mondo prize in 2006; her Sicilian roots are in Ragusa, Italy.
Sarandon is Bisexuality, seemingly coming out during a September 2022 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. She also previously told Pride Source in 2017 that her sexuality was "open" and "up for grabs", and on a 2021 episode of the Divorced Not Dead podcast said of her dating interests, "I don't care if it's a man or a woman. I mean, I'm open to all age, all color. And those for me, those things are just details."
Sarandon has been recognized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) for the following films:
Awards and nominations
Sarandon received the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Stockholm International Film Festival, was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame in 2010, and received the Outstanding Artistic Life Award for her Outstanding Contribution to World Cinema at the 2011 Shanghai International Film Festival. In 2013, she was invited to inaugurate the 44th International Film Festival of India (IFFI) in Goa. In 2015, Sarandon received the Goldene Kamera international lifetime achievement award.
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Categories: 1946 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Actresses, 21st-century American Actresses, Actresses From Middlesex County, New Jersey, Actresses From New York City, Activists From New York City, Activists From New Jersey, American Anti–death Penalty Activists, American Anti–iraq War Activists, American Film Actresses, American People Of English Descent, American People Of Irish Descent, American People Of Italian Descent, American People Of Welsh Descent, Susan Sarandon, American People Of Sicilian Descent, People Of Tuscan Descent, American Television Actresses, American Voice Actresses, Best Actress Academy Award Winners, Best Actress Bafta Award Winners, Best Performance By A Foreign Actress Genie Award Winners, Catholic University Of America Alumni, David Di Donatello Winners, Fao Goodwill Ambassadors, Former Roman Catholics, American Lgbtq Rights Activists, Actors From Edison, New Jersey, People From Jackson Heights, Queens, American Stage Actresses, Edison High School Alumni, American Bisexual Actresses, 20th-century American Lgbtq People, 21st-century American Lgbtq People, Lgbtq Rights Activists From New York, American Lgbtq Women, American Queer Actresses, Lgbtq People From New York, American Anti-war Activists, Liberalism In The United States, American Activists For Palestinian Solidarity
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