Susan Sarandon (born October 4, 1946) is an American actress. She has worked in films and television, since 1969, and won an
Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance in the 1995 film
Dead Man Walking. She was nominated for the award for four films, before that, and has received other recognition for her work. She is also noted for her social and political activism for a variety of
liberal causes.
Early life
Sarandon, the eldest of nine children in a
Roman Catholic family, was born as
Susan Abigail Tomalin in New York City, as the daughter of Leonora Marie (
née Criscione) and Phillip Leslie Tomalin (26 Sep 1917 – 26 Mar 1999), who worked as an advertising executive, television producer and
nightclub singer, during the
big band era.
Sarandon's father was of English, Irish and Welsh ancestry and her
Italian American mother's ancestors
emigrated from the regions of
Tuscany and
Sicily.
In 2006, Sarandon and 10 of her relatives, (including her then-partner
Tim Robbins and her son Miles), traveled to
Wales to trace her family's Welsh genealogy. Their journey was documented by the
BBC Wales program,
Coming Home: Susan Sarandon.
In 2006 she also received the "Ragusani nel mondo" prize, since she had recently discovered her Sicilian roots, in
Ragusa, Italy.
