Susan Sarandon

American actress, notable in films from her debut in the 1970s. Her films include, "Lady Liberty," 1971, "Pretty Baby," 1978, "Sweet Hearts Dance," 1988 and the smash hit, "Thelma and Louis," 1991. She won a Best Actress Oscar in 1996 for her portrayal of a nun fighting to save the soul of a convicted killer in "Dead Man Walking," then moved on to other noted films such as "Stepmom," "Illuminata" and "The Cradle Will Rock." In early 1999, at 52, an age when many actresses are bemoaning lack of parts, Sarandon is at the top of Hollywood's radar screen.

The oldest of nine children of an advertising executive, she grew up in Edison, NY. Although she studied drama at Catholic University of Washington, D.C., she became an actress by a fluke when she accompanied her then-husband Chris Sarandon to an audition and wound up landing the role. She is known as direct and forthright, tough and uncompromising. They divorced in 1979. In the late 1970s, Sarandon had a two-year relationship with director Louis Malle, who directed her in Pretty Baby and Atlantic City. From 1988 to 2009, Sarandon was in a relationship with actor, Tim Robbins, 12 years her junior, and they have two children, Jack Henry born in 1989 and Miles Guthrie Tomalin born 4 May 1992. She also has a daughter, Eve, born 1985, by Italian director, Franco Amurri.