Susan Sarandon facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Susan Sarandon
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Sarandon in 2017
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| Born |
Susan Abigail Tomalin
October 4, 1946 New York City, U.S.
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| Alma mater | Catholic University of America |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1970–present |
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Works
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Full list |
| Spouse(s) |
Chris Sarandon
(m. 1967; div. 1979) |
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| Children | 3, including Eva Amurri and Miles Robbins |
| Awards | Full list |
Susan Abigail Sarandon (born October 4, 1946) is a famous American actor. She has won many important awards, including an Academy Award (also known as an Oscar) and a British Academy Film Award. She has also been nominated for many other awards, like the Primetime Emmy Awards and Golden Globe Awards.
Susan Sarandon started her acting career in the movie Joe in 1970. She also appeared in TV shows like A World Apart and Search for Tomorrow. She became very well-known for her role in the musical horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975).
Sarandon was nominated for an Oscar several times for movies like Atlantic City (1980), Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and The Client (1994). She finally won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role as Helen Prejean in Dead Man Walking (1995). Some of her other popular movies include Pretty Baby (1978), The Hunger (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Bull Durham (1988), Little Women (1994), Stepmom (1998), and Enchanted (2007).
Besides movies, Sarandon has also acted on Broadway in plays like An Evening with Richard Nixon (1972). On television, she has appeared in popular shows like Friends (2001) and Malcolm in the Middle (2002). She also starred in TV films such as You Don't Know Jack (2010) and Bernard and Doris (2008), and the miniseries Feud (2017).
Susan Sarandon is also known for her work helping others and supporting important causes. She became a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1999, which means she helps promote children's rights around the world. She also received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award in 2006 for her efforts to fight hunger.
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Susan Sarandon's Early Life
Susan Sarandon was born in Jackson Heights, Queens, a part of New York City. She was the oldest of nine children. Her mother, Lenora Marie, and her father, Phillip Leslie Tomalin, had a big family. Her father worked in advertising and TV, and he was also a singer for a short time.
When she was four, her family moved from New York City to a new community in New Jersey called Stephenville. Her family was Roman Catholic, and Susan and her sisters went to an all-girls school called Saint Francis Grammar School. Her brothers went to a different school nearby. Susan's mother was active in local clubs, and the family enjoyed swimming at a private club, where Susan and her sisters won many competitions. Susan finished Saint Francis Grammar School in 1960.
She then went to Edison High School. While in high school, she joined a band and dance group to entertain sick children at a hospital. She also performed in school plays, playing the main character in Lady Precious Dream and My Sister Eileen. She was even mentioned in local newspapers for her acting. In 1964, she was honored by being inducted into the National Honor Society.
After graduating from Edison High School in 1964, Susan attended the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C. She studied drama there and earned a degree in 1968. To support herself during and after college, she worked different jobs like cutting hair, cleaning houses, and being a switchboard operator.
Susan Sarandon's Acting Career
Susan Sarandon started her acting journey on stage in 1968. The next year, she and her husband, Chris Sarandon, went to an audition for the movie Joe. Susan got a big role in the film, playing a troubled teenager.
From 1970 to 1972, she acted in TV soap operas, playing different characters. Her career really took off in 1974 when she starred in a popular TV movie and a film called The Front Page. In 1975, she appeared in the very popular movie The Rocky Horror Picture Show and also starred with Robert Redford in The Great Waldo Pepper. She worked with director Louis Malle on two films, Pretty Baby (1978) and Atlantic City (1980). Atlantic City earned her first nomination for an Academy Award.
She then appeared in the movie The Hunger (1983). In 1987, she starred in the comedy-fantasy film The Witches of Eastwick with famous actors like Jack Nicholson, Cher, and Michelle Pfeiffer. However, she became a household name after starring with Kevin Costner and Tim Robbins in the successful movie Bull Durham (1988).
In the 1990s, Sarandon was nominated for an Academy Award four more times for Best Actress. These nominations were for her roles in Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and The Client (1994). She finally won the Oscar for Dead Man Walking (1995). In this movie, she played Sister Helen Prejean, a nun who visits a convicted murderer on death row (a place where people wait to be executed for serious crimes). Critics praised her performance, saying she was strong and showed deep compassion. In 1994, she received the Crystal Award from Women in Film. She has also been nominated for eight Golden Globe awards for films like White Palace (1990) and Stepmom (1998).
Some of her other movies include Little Women (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Stepmom (1998), Enchanted (2007), and Speed Racer (2008). She has also lent her voice to animated films like Rugrats in Paris: The Movie (2000) and Cats & Dogs (2001). On television, she has appeared in popular shows like The Simpsons, Friends, and Malcolm in the Middle.
Susan Sarandon has also narrated many documentary films, especially those about social and political issues. She has hosted the PBS documentary series Independent Lens. She also helps choose films for the NYICFF, a film festival in New York City that shows movies for children and teenagers.
In 2009, Sarandon appeared in The Lovely Bones, directed by Peter Jackson. She has also worked with her daughter, Eva Amurri, in several movies like Middle of Nowhere (2008) and That's My Boy (2012). In 2012, she performed the audiobook for The Member of the Wedding. More recently, she appeared in films like Cloud Atlas (2012), Tammy (2014), and The Meddler (2015). In 2017, she played Bette Davis in the TV series Feud, earning another Golden Globe nomination. She also appeared in A Bad Moms Christmas (2017).
In 2018, she joined an advisory board for the San Diego International Film Festival. In 2022, Sarandon starred in the TV drama Monarch. In 2023, she appeared in the superhero film Blue Beetle.
Susan Sarandon's Activism and Social Causes
Susan Sarandon is well-known for her strong support of social and political causes. She believes in making society fairer for everyone. In 1999, she was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. This means she helps UNICEF, an organization that works to protect children's rights and well-being around the world. In 2006, she received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award for her work against hunger. She was also one of eight women chosen to carry the Olympic flag at the opening ceremony of the 2006 Winter Olympics in Italy. In 2010, she became an FAO Goodwill Ambassador, helping to fight hunger and poverty globally. She even helped plant fruit trees at a housing complex in New York City in 2018.
Working for Peace
Sarandon has spoken out against wars. Before the 2003 war in Iraq, she said that many Americans did not want to risk their children's lives or the lives of children in Iraq. She has participated in protests for peace, including a Mother's Day protest in 2006. In 2007, she joined a rally in Washington, D.C., supporting efforts to bring U.S. forces home from Iraq.
Supporting Civil Rights
In 1995, Sarandon was interviewed for a documentary called The Celluloid Closet, which explored how Hollywood movies have shown different groups of people, including the LGBTQ+ community.
In 2004, she was part of an advisory group called Racism Watch, which worked against racism.
Sarandon also speaks out against the death penalty (the punishment of death for a crime) and mass incarceration (when many people are put in prison). She believes in fair treatment for everyone in the justice system.
Recent Activism
Susan Sarandon continues to be active in social causes. In 2011, she spoke at a protest in Wisconsin. She also spoke at the Occupy Wall Street protest in New York City, which was about economic fairness. In 2018, she participated in a rally against gun violence.
In June 2018, Sarandon was arrested during a protest called Women Disobey. She and many others were protesting a policy that separated migrant families at the border.
Sarandon has also shown support for the Palestinian people, hoping for peace and justice for them and for the Israeli people. She has said that true peace is built on justice. She was also an executive producer for Soufra, a documentary about a food truck project in a Palestinian refugee camp in Lebanon.
Susan Sarandon's Personal Life
While in college, Susan met Chris Sarandon, and they got married in 1967. They separated in 1975 and divorced in 1979, but she kept his last name. After that, she had relationships with director Louis Malle and later with musician David Bowie and actor Sean Penn.
In the mid-1980s, Susan Sarandon dated Italian filmmaker Franco Amurri. They had a daughter named Eva Amurri, who was born in 1985.
Starting in 1988, Sarandon lived with actor Tim Robbins, whom she met while they were filming Bull Durham. They had two sons: John "Jack" Henry (born 1989) and Miles (born 1992). Susan and Tim shared similar views on social issues. They broke up in 2009.
After her relationship with Tim Robbins ended, Sarandon began a new one with Jonathan Bricklin. They helped start a chain of table tennis clubs called SPiN. Sarandon is a co-owner of the clubs in New York and Toronto. Sarandon and Bricklin broke up in 2015.
In 2006, Susan Sarandon and ten of her relatives, including her son Miles, traveled to the United Kingdom to learn about her family's history in Wales. Their journey was shown in a BBC Wales TV program called Coming Home: Susan Sarandon. Similar information was also featured in the American show Who Do You Think You Are? She also received an award in 2006 called the Ragusani Nel Mondo prize, because her family roots on her mother's side are from Ragusa, Italy.
Susan Sarandon's Awards and Honors
Susan Sarandon has received many honors throughout her career. She was given the Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2009 Stockholm International Film Festival. In 2010, she was inducted into the New Jersey Hall of Fame, which recognizes famous people from New Jersey. She also received the Outstanding Artistic Life Award at the 2011 Shanghai International Film Festival for her great contributions to movies around the world. In 2013, she was invited to open the 44th International Film Festival of India in Goa. In 2015, Sarandon received the Goldene Kamera international lifetime achievement award.
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (the group that gives out the Oscars) has recognized Susan Sarandon for these films:
- 54th Academy Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role, nominated for Atlantic City (1981)
- 64th Academy Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role, nominated for Thelma & Louise (1991)
- 65th Academy Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role, nominated for Lorenzo's Oil (1992)
- 67th Academy Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role, nominated for The Client (1994)
- 68th Academy Awards, Best Actress in a Leading Role, won for Dead Man Walking (1995)
Images for kids
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Sarandon in 2017
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Sarandon at the 2008 Tribeca Film Festival
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Sarandon's hand and footprints at Grauman's Chinese Theatre
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Sarandon and Tim Robbins appear alongside John Edwards at a presidential campaign rally in 2008
See also
In Spanish: Susan Sarandon para niños
