Susan Sarandon bio, age, daughter, young, husband, Oscar, relationships 2024

Biography of Susan Sarandon

Susan Sarandon is a popular Hollywood actress who gained international fame for her roles as Jane Spofford in "The Witches of Eastwick" and Sister Helen Prejean in the crime drama "Dead Man Walking," for which she won an Oscar, having been nominated five times in her career. She has also been nominated for Emmy Awards six times and Golden Globe Awards nine times. Despite her senior age, the actress continues to work. For instance, in 2023, she played the lead role in the comedy "Maybe I Do."

Childhood, Adolescence, Family

Susan Abigail Tomalin was born in the autumn of 1946 to Philip Leslie Tomalin and Lenora Marie Criscione in New York. Her father, of English descent, worked as a television producer and previously performed musical acts in nightclubs. Through her mother, she had Sicilian and Tuscan roots.

The family was large: Susan had four brothers – Philip, Terry, Tim, and O'Brian, and four sisters – Meredith, Bonnie, Amanda, and Missy. Her parents were devout people and tried to raise their children in Christian traditions.

A few years after Susan's birth, they moved to the town of Edison, located about 50 kilometers from New York. The children lived in two rooms, sleeping on bunk beds. The house was chaotic, and as the eldest, Susan was tasked with looking after the younger children.

Recalling her school years, Sarandon shared the following:

I attended a very strict Catholic school, but I was never a rebel – I just asked a lot of questions. In the third grade, we were told that a true marriage can only be by Catholic rite. I asked, 'How did Joseph and Mary get married if Jesus was not yet born and there was no Catholic church?' But they said that original sin raged within me and made me stand in the corridor. The sense of humor was not great there.

After school, she enrolled at The Catholic University of America in Washington – merely because her parents missed all the application deadlines for other universities.

She graduated in 1968 with a Bachelor of Arts in Drama but had not considered an acting career. However, meeting her future husband and actor Chris Sarandon changed Susan's life forever. She accompanied him to an audition to help him with a reading, and she ended up landing the leading role.

Acting Career

The film that marked the debut of the twenty-four-year-old Ms. Sarandon was titled "Joe" (1970), in which she played the main character, Melissa Compton, a hippie movement enthusiast. The budding actress was noticed and offered a role in the Italian-French comedy "Lady Liberty" starring Sophia Loren and Danny DeVito.

Following the shoot, Susan landed a new acting job, this time in the American series "A World Apart." She then appeared in films such as "Lovin' Molly" (as Sarah), "The Front Page" (as Peggy Grant), and "The Great Waldo Pepper" (as Mary Beth).

Susan Sarandon in the film 'The Great Waldo Pepper'

Sarandon's first notable success came with her role as the naive girl in love, Janet Weiss, in the musical comedy "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." Her co-stars included Tim Curry, who played the mad scientist-transvestite and owner of the eerie castle, Frank-N-Furter, and Barry Bostwick, who portrayed her fiancé Brad Majors. The splendid musical parody was well-received by the American audience.

Susan Sarandon in 'The Rocky Horror Picture Show'

In 1977, Sarandon traveled to New Orleans to audition for the role of Hattie in the historical drama "Pretty Baby," and she got it despite her shyness, which she couldn't seem to shake off. The story about a photographer documenting the lives of prostitutes and falling in love with a twelve-year-old girl from the world's oldest profession shocked critics. Nonetheless, the film, made with great tact and delicacy, won the Technical Grand Prize at the Cannes Film Festival.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Pretty Baby'

Susan truly tasted fame after her performance in the crime drama "Atlantic City" (1980), portraying Sally Matthews. Her co-star was the legendary Burt Lancaster, for whom the role of former gangster Lou was one of his last major roles in cinema. The film won the top prize at the Venice Film Festival, received five Oscar nominations, and Sarandon herself was awarded the Genie Award for Best Foreign Actress for the first time.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Atlantic City'

In the 1980s, Susan's film career soared. She starred in the horror film "The Hunger" with Catherine Deneuve and David Bowie, and in 1985, she appeared in the comedic thriller "The Witches of Eastwick" alongside Cher, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Jack Nicholson.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'The Witches of Eastwick'

That same year, she starred in the international project "Mussolini and I," playing the lead role of dictator's daughter Edda Mussolini-Ciano. This time her co-stars were the brilliant Anthony Hopkins and Annie Girardot.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Mussolini and I'

Sarandon portrayed a weary waitress who decides to have fun over the weekend with her housewife friend (Geena Davis) and gets involved in a criminal story, in the thriller "Thelma & Louise." For her role as Louise, she received multiple award nominations, including for the Oscars and Golden Globes.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Thelma & Louise'

The actress shared her impressions of working on the project:

I remember shooting 'Thelma & Louise' with Ridley Scott. He's not what you'd call an actor's director. He does his job and expects the actors to do theirs. Geena Davis and I would turn to Ridley with questions, and he certainly helped us, but we created our characters independently. We came up with their backstories, how they came to live such lives, how they moved, how they spoke, etc. However, the way he filmed us, how he managed what he had at his disposal, allowed him to make such a successful film that became an event for all women. It opened up and changed a lot for them.

Susan first felt the peak of fame after Tim Robbins' film "Dead Man Walking" (1995), where she played a nun and spiritual advisor to death row inmate Matthew (Sean Penn). The film was nominated for four Oscars, but Sarandon alone won the award for Best Actress. After this, she was firmly established on Hollywood's A-list.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Dead Man Walking'

With the new millennium, new roles came to Sarandon. She starred in the drama "Moonlight Mile" with Dustin Hoffman and Jake Gyllenhaal, playing writer Jojo Floss, and entered the main cast of the Christmas film "Noel" with Penelope Cruz and Paul Walker.

In the mystical thriller "Irresistible," Susan brilliantly embodied the main character, Sophie Hartley, obsessed with the idea of being pursued, and in the drama "The Greatest," she played the wife of the main character portrayed by Pierce Brosnan.

Susan Sarandon in the film 'Irresistible'

In the 2010s, Sarandon was remembered by audiences for her roles in the comedy "Tammy" (as the alcoholic grandmother Pearl), the thriller "Arbitrage" (as Ellen Miller), and the biographical drama "Feud" (as Bette Davis). In 2021, the crime action film "Jolt" was released, in which Sarandon appeared in one of the supporting roles.

Susan Sarandon's Personal Life

At the age of twenty, while a university student, Susan married actor Chris Sarandon. He helped start her acting career, but couldn't handle professional jealousy. When the movie "Joe" came out, which Chris had auditioned for but Susan ultimately landed the lead role in, the couple split up.

From her first marriage, the aspiring actress kept her husband's surname, which she made her stage name and later made famous worldwide. Susan never married again, and when asked by journalists, she consistently replied:

I believe in love and trust – but I don't believe in marriage. Marriage is for lawyers, not for those in love. I don't like the feeling that comes with marriage – as if people take on some official post and are then subordinate to each other. I just like waking up with the person I choose.

In 1977, before her divorce from Chris, the actress met French director Louis Malle. She starred in his films ("Atlantic City" and "Pretty Baby"), moved to the south of France, and helped her new partner raise his two children from previous relationships.

After three years, they parted ways: despite Susan being divorced, Louis was in no hurry to propose. And when she left to film in New York, he married actress Candice Bergen.

Having been let down, Sarandon later preferred no-strings-attached flings. During this time, one of her beaus was David Bowie. Their relationship could have grown into something more, but the musician wanted a family and children, while Susan believed she was infertile due to an endometriosis diagnosis.

She was 38 years old when she met Italian heartthrob-director Franco Amurri on the set of "Mussolini and I". While their romance was at its peak, Sarandon realized she was pregnant and decided to have the baby. She didn't want to marry, but lived in Rome for a while after her daughter Eva was born, then moved back to America.

In 1988, Susan, along with Kevin Costner and up-and-coming Tim Robbins, formed a love triangle in the movie "Bull Durham". Tim was 13 years younger, but their undeniable chemistry brought them together, and they lived together for over twenty years.

Despite having two sons – Jack Henry and Miles – with Robbins, Sarandon never married him, although their family was considered one of the most exemplary in Hollywood for a long time.

That's why it was all the more shocking when it was announced that Tim and Susan had separated in 2009. A year later, the actress began dating Jonathan Bricklin, the son of a famous entrepreneur. He was 31 years younger, but that didn't stop them from living together for six years and starting their own business: a chain of ping-pong clubs.

Susan is currently single, though she's open to new relationships.

Susan Sarandon Now

In 2023, a new comedy "Maybe I Do" was released featuring the actress where she reunited on set with Richard Gere, as well as with Diane Keaton and William H. Macy. Sarandon also starred in the movie "The Fabulous Four" – a magnificent wedding story directed by Australian Jocelyn Moorhouse.

Susan Sarandon in the movie 'Meeting the Parents'

Another promising premiere was the adventure thriller "The Blue Beetle," in which Susan will appear as the supervillain Victoria Kord. The character was created specifically for the adaptation. Initially, it was assumed that Sharon Stone would play the character, but the role went to Sarandon.

Susan Sarandon in the movie 'The Blue Beetle'

Interesting Facts

Once at the Toronto Film Festival, a woman approached Susan Sarandon with her daughter and said she named her daughter after the actress. As the child was nudged towards her, the Hollywood star expected her to say, "Hi, I'm Susan." But suddenly, the mother blurted out, "Meet Sarandon."

Eva Amurri also became an actress and has given her mother three grandchildren: Marlowe Mae, Mateo Antoni, and Major James. While pregnant with her third child, Eva divorced her husband, soccer player Kyle Martino.

Susan describes herself as a true Luddite. She has little interest in technical innovations, dislikes using the internet, and even struggled to learn how to send text messages when mobile phones first appeared.