Born Susan Abigail Tomalin in New York City; educated at Catholic University of America Drama School. 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 (1970). Chris Sarandon, who had studied to be an actor, was passed over. His wife Susan got the major role of the daughter of an advertising executive. Dad kills her drug dealer boyfriend and befriends an opinionated assembly line worker 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 (1975). More than 15 years after beginning her career Sarandon at last actively campaigned for a great role -- Annie in BULL DURHAM (1988), 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 three 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 (1995). When Robert Hofler, writing a 1994 article for BUZZ, asked Sarandon whether it was difficult being directed by the man she lived with (Tim Robbins for DEAD MAN WALKING), she answered: "I lived and worked with another director, and when you do that, you're in a real hostage situation. There are situations where you'd walk off the picture, but you can't walk because you've gotta go home and make the tuna melt". Hofler: "You're talking about Louis Malle?" Sarandon: "Yeah". Hofler: "Malle directed you in 'Pretty Baby' and 'Atlantic City'. Did working with him contribute to your breaking up?" Sarandon: "Nah. I'd quote Proust on that one. It was just time." Other notable (non-nominated) credits include THE FRONT PAGE (1974), THE GREAT WALDO PEPPER (1975), THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT (1977), PRETTY BABY and KING OF THE GYPSIES (both 1978), TEMPEST (1982), THE HUNGER (1983), COMPROMISING POSITIONS (1985), THE WITCHES OF EASTWICK (1987), SWEET HEARTS DANCE (1988), A DRY WHITE SEASON (1989), THE PLAYER and BOB ROBERTS (both 1992), SAFE PASSAGE and LITTLE WOMEN (both 1994), TWILIGHT, ILLUMINATA and STEPMOM (all 1998), CRADLE WILL ROCK and ANYWHERE BUT HERE (both 1999), JOE GOULD'S SECRET (2000), IGBY GOES DOWN, THE BANGER SISTERS and MOONLIGHT MILE (all 2002), "Children of Dune" (2003, TV mini-series), NOEL, SHALL WE DANCE and ALFIE (all 2004), ELIZABETHTOWN and ROMANCE & CIGARETTES (both 2005), IRRESISTIBLE and episodes of "Rescue Me" (TV) (all 2006), IN THE VALLEY OF ELAH, MR. WOODCOCK, EMOTIONAL ARITHMETIC, BERNARD AND DORIS and ENCHANTED (all 2007), and MIDDLE OF NOWHERE, SPEED RACER, THE LOVELY BONES and THE COLOSSUS (all scheduled for 2008).  Nominated for Actress 1981: ATLANTIC CITY  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1991: THELMA & LOUISE  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1992: LORENZO'S OIL  Nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1994: THE CLIENT  Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1995: DEAD MAN WALKING 5 nominations, 1 Award