Tim Robbins

See Susan Sarandon...

Nah, just kidding! A pretty talented fella in his own right.

Not too much can be unearthed about Tim Robbins' early life. He was born on October 16th, 1958 in West Covina, California and the family soon re-located to New York City where he grew up in the Greenwich Village section of town. He, like his significant other, was a product of a strict Catholic upbringing. Unlike her, he was encouraged by his parents to be politically active and to involve himself in the arts. Apparently he took their advice, by the time he turned twelve, he had joined an avant-garde performing group known as the Theater for the New City and performed around town. A dedicated type, he remained with the group for the next seven years or so.

After graduating from high school, Robbins made his way to that prestigious institution known worldwide as the University of New York at Plattsburgh. In his own words, he describes the rigors of the school as a "two year party." Never one to turn away from a challenge, he took Horace Greeley's advice and headed west where he enrolled at UCLA. He managed to come up with tuition money by delivering pizzas and busing tables. His hard work paid off and he graduated in 1980 with a degree in theatre. Not long afterwards, he and his buddies formed a group called "Actor's Gang" that specialized in putting on politically radical types of plays, particularly those by Bertolt Brecht, and other assorted works. To this day, he still serves on the Actors' Gang Board of Directors.

As the group struggled to make ends meet, Robbins began making appearances in movie roles. His first was in 1983 in something called Toy Soldiers. Just as things started looking up, he took a role that almost doomed his career. It happened to be in the notorious George Lucas bomb that went by the name of Howard the Duck. For his efforts, Robbins was nominated for a Razzie Award as the years "Worst Supporting Actor."

He really hit his stride when he played opposite Kevin Costner in 1988 in (to me at least) one of the best baseball movies of all time, Bull Durham. His character, one "Nuke" LaLoosh, depicts a young, flaky pitcher on his way to the majors or "the show" as they refer to it, while his catcher and teacher, an old veteran who dreams of returning to "the show", prepares for life outside of the game. It was also on the set of the film that he met and started having a relationship with actress Susan Sarandon that still appears to be going strong to this day.

After appearing in such films as Jacob's Ladder and Jungle Man, Robbins scored his next huge success in Robert Altman's The Player. The movie was a satire of the film industry and his performance as a low life executive earned him the Best Actor award at that years Cannes Film Festival.

At about the same time, Robbins began to focus his talents on directing. His debut was Bob Roberts, another satirical piece that focused on a right wing, folk singing politician who makes a bid for the Senate. He also wound up starring in the movie and actually competed against himself for the Best Actor award for his performances in both Bob Roberts and The Player. He wound up winning for The Player

Always politically outspoken, both he and Sarandon got themselves into a spot of trouble in 1993. During the Oscars ceremony, they were scheduled to present an award but before doing so wound up giving a speech on the plight of the Haitian refugees who were afflicted with AIDS. The powers that be decided to ban the couple (along with Richard Gere) for their commentary from any further telecasts. Two years later, they (the powers that be ) relented and allowed them back on the program. They responded by cracking jokes about the whole incident.

By the time 1995 rolled around, Robbins directing career had taken off. His efforts in Dead Man Walking, which starred Susan Sarandon and Sean Penn landed all three of them with Oscar nominations. Sarandon was the only winner though and wound up thanking Robbins from the podium and called him her "best partner in crime". ."

Filmography

Actor

Director

Bob Roberts (1992)
Dead Man Walking (1995)
Cradle Will Rock (1999)

Writer