It was after the 1968 Democratic convention and there was a casting call for a film with several roles for the kind of young people who had disrupted the convention. Two recent graduates of Catholic University in Washington DC, went to the audition in New York for Joe. Chris Sarandon, who had studied to be an actor, was passed over. His wife Susan got a major role.

That role was as Susan Compton, the daughter of ad executive Bill Compton (Dennis Patrick). In the movie Dad Bill kills Susan's drug dealer boyfriend and next befriends Joe (Peter Boyle)-- a bigot who works on an assembly line and who collects guns.

Five years later, Sarandon made the film where fans of cult classics have come to know her as Janet, who gets entangled with transvestite Dr. Frank n Furter in The Rocky Horror Picture Show. More than 15 years after beginning her career Sarandon at last actively campaigned for a great role, Annie in Bull Durham, flying at her own expense from Rome to Los Angeles. "It was such a wonderful script ... and did away with a lot of myths and challenged the American definition of success", she said. "When I got there, I spent some time with Kevin Costner, kissed some ass at the studio and got back on a plane". Her romance with the Bull Durham supporting actor, Tim Robbins, had produced two sons by 1992 and put Sarandon in the position of leaving her domestic paradise only to accept roles that really challenged her. The result was four Academy Award nominations in the 1990s and best actress for Dead Man Walking. Her first Academy Award nomination was for Louis Malle's Atlantic City.



The Client (1994): $5,000,000.00
Lorenzo's Oil (1992): $3,500,000.00

Partner of Tim Robbins from 1988 to 2009. They have two children together. Attended Catholic University of America Drama School, 1964-1968. Met and married Chris Sarandon there (by priest who was head of Dept.). Has a daughter from relationship with Franco Amurri (Eva Amurri, born 1985). Chosen by People (USA) magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful in the world. [1996] As co-presenters of the Academy Awards in 1993, Susan and her former partner, Tim Robbins, seized a chance to bring public attention to the plight of a few hundred Haitians with Aids who had been interned in Guantanamo Bay. Supported Ralph Nader during his 2000 Presidential Election campaign. Is of Italian and Welsh heritage. She keeps her Oscar in the bathroom. Was involved in the effort to have Laura Schlessinger's television show taken off the air in 2000, because of her disagreement with Schlessinger's conservative views. The effort was successful in leading many sponsors to drop their support of the show, which was ultimately cancelled less than a year after its premiere. For the past ten years she has been involved with Heifer International, an organization that donates farm animals to needy families who need the animals for work. Is listed along with Geena Davis on the 24th place in AFI's Hero Top 50. One of eight women, also among them Sophia Loren and author Isabel Allende, carrying the Olympic flag at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games' opening ceremony in Turin (10 February 2006). Father was Philip Leslie Tomalin (of English, Irish, and Welsh ancestry). Mother was Lenora Marie Criscione (who was born in Ragusa, Sicily). Eldest of nine children. Received the "World Lifetime Achievement Award" at the 2006 Women's World Award in New York. Was listed as a potential nominee on the 2008 Razzie Award nominating ballot. She was suggested in the Worst Supporting Actress category for her performance in the film Mr. Woodcock (2007). She failed to receive a nomination however. In 1992, the National Society of Film Critics named her as their runner-up for best actress for her performance in Lorenzo's Oil (1992). Received a 1982 Drama Desk Award nomination for Best Actress in a Play for her performance as a victimized woman who rallies and turns the tables on her would-be attacker in the hit Off-Broadway play "Extremities", by playwright William Mastrosimone. In 2005, she and the rest of the chief creative team behind the 11-part radio documentary, "Leonard Bernstein: An American Life," a chronicle of the legendary American musical giant's life and career, were recipients of the (George Foster) Peabody Award bestowed by the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia at the 64th presentation of the honor. The Peabody is the premiere international prize given for electronic (i.e. television and radio) media. Friends with Don Johnson since Sweet Hearts Dance (1988). She was inducted into the 2010 New Jersey Hall of Fame for her services and contributions to Arts and Entertainment. Received "Stockholm Lifetime Achievement Award" in 2009.