![]() Photo: © WireImage.com |
Born Timothy Francis Robbins in West Covina, CA, but raised in New York City; educated at the SUNY (Plattsburgh, NY) and UCLA (theater). Lanky, youthful lead who rose to prominence as the sweetly goofy minor league baseball pitcher "Nuke" Laloosh in BULL DURHAM (1988). Shortly after graduating with honors from UCLA, Robbins co-founded the experimental Los Angeles theater group, The Actors Gang. He made his TV debut in the movie QUARTERBACK PRINCESS (1983) and landed a small role in a Martin Scorsese-directed episode of Steven Spielberg's "Amazing Stories" entitled "Mirror, Mirror" (1986). Robbins's feature films include Rob Reiner's THE SURE THING (1985), as the showtune-singing driver, and TAPEHEADS (1988), as a reluctant video director. Both films also featured fellow Actors Gang member John Cusack.
With his boyish good looks and easy manner, Robbins can make a killer seem sympathetic, which he managed in Robert Altman's THE PLAYER (1992), as an insecure studio executive who tries to get away with murder. And in his feature directorial debut with the "mockumentary" BOB ROBERTS (1992 - writer, producer & director), the story of a right-wing, folk-singing senatorial candidate, he makes a crooked politician seem respectable. In Altman's SHORT CUTS (1993), a resetting of Raymond Carver's collection of short stories, Robbins provides much of the humor with his somewhat caricatured portrayal of an egocentric Los Angeles cop. While letting his gawky charm work overtime as an idealistic bumpkin who unwittingly becomes a corporate stooge in the Coen brothers' stab at mainstream accessibility, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY, in THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION (both 1994) Robbins gave a low key and exquisitely modulated performance as a mild-mannered con who forms a close friendship in prison with a seasoned lifer played by Morgan Freeman. Robbins' subsequent film credits include Altman's PRÊT-À-PORTER (1994), I.Q. (also 1994), NOTHING TO LOSE (1997), ARLINGTON ROAD and AUSTIN POWERS: THE SPY WHO SHAGGED ME (both 1999), MISSION TO MARS and HIGH FIDELITY (both 2000), ANTITRUST (2001), THE TRUTH ABOUT CHARLIE (2002), MYSTIC RIVER and CODE 46 (both 2003), WAR OF THE WORLDS, THE SECRET LIFE OF WORDS and ZATHURA: A SPACE ADVENTURE (both 2005), CATCH A FIRE and TENACIOUS D IN THE PICK OF DESTINY (both 2006), NOISE (2007), and THE LUCKY ONES and CITY OF EMBER (both scheduled for release in 2008). He wrote, produced and directed DEAD MAN WALKING (1995) and CRADLE WILL ROCK (1999). Robbins has two children with actress Susan Sarandon, who has been his partner since 1988.
2 nominations, 1 Award |