Susan Sarandon

Susan Abigail Sarandon (née Tomalin; born October 4, 1946) is an American actor whose career spans over five decades. She has earned numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, an Actor Award, and a British Academy Film Award, as well as nominations for seven Emmy Awards, ten Golden Globes, and a Grammy Award. She is best known for her performances in prominent films such as The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Atlantic City, Thelma & Louise, Lorenzo's Oil, The Client, and Dead Man Walking.

Born in Jackson Heights, Queens, New York City, Sarandon is the eldest of nine children of Lenora Marie and Phillip Leslie Tomalin, an advertising executive, television producer, and nightclub singer. Her family relocated to Raritan Township, New Jersey, when she was four years old, and later to Edison. She attended Saint Francis Grammar School and Edison High School, participating in local music, dance, and theatrical productions before graduating in 1964. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in drama from the Catholic University of America in 1968, supporting herself through various jobs during and after college.

Sarandon made her motion picture debut in Joe (1970) and appeared on the soap operas A World Apart and Search for Tomorrow. Her career gained momentum with roles in the 1974 television film F. Scott Fitzgerald and 'The Last of the Belles' and Billy Wilder's adaptation of The Front Page. In 1975, she starred in the cult musical horror film The Rocky Horror Picture Show and had the female lead in The Great Waldo Pepper. Working twice with director Louis Malle, her performance in Atlantic City (1980) earned her a first Academy Award nomination.

During the 1980s, Sarandon appeared in The Hunger (1983) and The Witches of Eastwick (1987) before achieving widespread prominence in Bull Durham (1988). The 1990s marked a period of intense critical acclaim, bringing her four additional Best Actress Academy Award nominations for Thelma & Louise (1991), Lorenzo's Oil (1992), The Client (1994), and Dead Man Walking (1995), winning the Oscar for her role as Sister Helen Prejean in the latter. Her other film roles during this period included Pretty Baby, Little Women, Stepmom, and Cradle Will Rock.

Her later film credits include Enchanted (2007), The Lovely Bones (2009), Cloud Atlas (2012), Tammy (2014), The Meddler (2015), Blue Beetle (2023), and Nonnas (2025). On stage, she made her Broadway debut in An Evening with Richard Nixon (1972), returned in Exit the King (2009), and made her UK stage debut in Mary Page Marlowe (2025). Her television work encompasses guest appearances on sitcoms such as Friends, Malcolm in the Middle, and 30 Rock, along with starring roles in Bernard and Doris, You Don't Know Jack, the miniseries Feud, and the drama Monarch.

In addition to narrative roles, Sarandon has narrated approximately two dozen documentary films, served as a presenter on Independent Lens, and hosted the lecture series Mythos. She is also widely recognized for her political and social activism, including supporting progressive causes, anti-war initiatives, and presidential campaigns. She was named a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador in 1999, received the Action Against Hunger Humanitarian Award in 2006, and became an FAO Goodwill Ambassador in 2010.