CHRIS SARANDON
Date of Birth: July 24, 1942
Born in West Virginia of Greek parentage, Sarandon got his first major theatrical experience at Catholic University in his senior year. "Until I took a theatre class for what I thought would be an easy credit, I was more or less majoring in popularity and school politics," he recalls. He then met Susan Tomalin, who became Susan Sarandon when they married in 1968. Sarandon became a member of the University's National Players, a troupe which toured the U.S. for a year presenting plays by Shakespeare and Moliere.
Following work with an improvisational theatre company in Washington D.C. Sarandon moved to New York where he worked in films, television, and on the stage. On Broadway, he appeared in the musical The Rothschilds, the highly successful Two Gentlemen of Verona, in which he appeared as Proteus and Censored Scenes from King Kong, with Carrie Fisher. It was during this play's run in London that he first used an English accent.
Sarandon has also appeared with the Shaw Festival and the Stratford Festival in Canada, portraying Laertes in Hamlet and Prince Hal in Henry IV, Part I. Sarandon received an Oscar nomination for his first film Dog Day Afternoon. Since then his more notable films have included Lipstick, The Sentinel, Cuba, Fright Night, The Princess Bride and The Nightmare Before Christmas.
On television, he has appeared in starring roles in You Can't Go Home Again, as Jesus in The Day Christ Died and one of the leads in the miniseries Liberty. Sarandon also had a regular role on the television drama The Guiding Light and, most recently, on Felicity as Dr. McGrath. Sarandon can most recently be seen playing the Mayor in the film Safe (2012) alongside Jason Statham.
In 1979 he and Susan divorced and in 1994 he married actress Joanna Gleason, who has starred in many plays and musicals. Sarandon hopes to move into directing and producing, but chooses to live his family life first.
Filmography
: Safe (2012)