Susan Abigail Sarandon (/səˈrændən/; née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor and activist. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a British Academy Film Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award, in addition to nominations for a Daytime Emmy Award, six Primetime Emmy Awards, and nine Golden Globe Awards. In 2002, she was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to the film industry.
Sarandon began her acting career in the drama film Joe (1970), before appearing in the soap opera A World Apart (1970–1971). In 1974, she co-starred as a Zelda Fitzgerald surrogate in the television film F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles', and the following year, she starred as Janet Weiss in the musical comedy horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Sarandon was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress for Atlantic City (1980), Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), and The Client (1994), before winning for Dead Man Walking (1995). She has also won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for The Client, and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Best Actress for Dead Man Walking. Her other films include Pretty Baby (1978), The Hunger (1983), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Bull Durham (1988), White Palace (1990), Little Women (1994), James and the Giant Peach (1996), Stepmom (1998), Enchanted (2007), Speed Racer (2008), The Lovely Bones (2009), Cloud Atlas (2012), Tammy (2014), The Meddler (2015), and A Bad Moms Christmas (2017).
Sarandon made her Broadway debut in the play An Evening with Richard Nixon (1972) and went on to receive Drama Desk Award nominations for the off-Broadway plays A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking (1979) and Extremities (1982). She returned to Broadway in the 2009 revival of Exit the King. On television, she is a six-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee, including for her guest roles on the sitcoms Friends (2001) and Malcolm in the Middle (2002), supporting role in the film You Don't Know Jack (2010), as well as a leading role as Doris Duke in the film Bernard and Doris (2008) and another leading role as Bette Davis in the 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. In November 2022, Sarandon joined the HALO Trust, the largest humanitarian mine clearance organization, as an ambassador.
Early life
Sarandon was born in Jackson Heights, Queens in New York City. She is the eldest of nine children of Lenora Marie (née Criscione 1923–2020) and Phillip Leslie Tomalin, an advertising executive, television producer, and one-time nightclub singer. She has four brothers: Phillip Leslie Jr., Terry (an outdoorsman, journalist, and community leader), Timothy, and O'Brian; and four sisters: Meredith (or "Merry"), Bonnie Priscilla, Amanda, and Melissa (or "Missy"). Her father was of English, Irish, and Welsh ancestry. His English ancestors came from Hackney in London and his Welsh ancestors from Bridgend. On her mother's side, she is of Italian descent, with ancestors from the regions of Tuscany and Sicily. Her father worked for WOR-TV in New York City.
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 Tova 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 Dream. 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 cutting hair, cleaning houses and working as a switchboard operator.
