Guests

Tim Robbins

Season 5, Episode 514

Original Airdate: December 5, 1999

Timothy Robbins was born October 16, 1958 in West Covina, California. Robbins was the fourth child of devout Roman Catholic parents. Tim was an altar boy, and his father was the director of the choir. The family moved to Greenwich Village in New York City where his father was a member of the musical group The Highwaymen.

At age 12, Robbins became a member of the Theatre for the New City. The drama club at Stuyvesant High School provided him his first experience directing. Robbins started college at the State University of New York, which he acknowledges was little more than a chance to party.

He moved to California, and established residency before enrolling at U.C.L.A. He paid his way delivering pizzas and busing tables at a country club. Tall and athletic, Robbins played softball with the Male Death Cult, an intramural team made up of fellow U.C.L.A. drama majors. After graduation, the members of Male Death Cult reunited to establish the Actors Gang, an avant-garde theater troupe.

Robbins also landed a small role in 1983's Toy Soldiers - his big-screen debut. He originally took film roles with the intention of bankrolling the Actors Gang.

He appeared in such regrettable films as Fraternity Vacation (1985) and Howard the Duck (1986), and the more successful The Sure Thing (1985) (with longtime friend John Cusack) and Top Gun (1986). His big break came with the 1988 hit Bull Durham. The film not only brought Robbins notice as the young pitcher Nuke LaLoosh, but introduced him to his future life partner Susan Sarandon.

He worked steadily throughout the next years on films such as Miss Firecracker (1989), Erik the Viking (1989), Jacob's Ladder (1990), Cadillac Man (1990), and Jungle Fever (1991).

The public saw the other side of this dimpled lanky actor when he played the unctuous studio exec in Robert Altman's The Player (1992). Robbins continued to work with top directors, such as the Coen Brothers, on The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Robert Altman, in Short Cuts (1993) and Ready to Wear (1994), and himself.

Robbins made his directorial debut with Bob Roberts (1992), which he also wrote and starred in. It was character he had been developing for years: a right-wing conservative folk singer. Robbins again received praise for his performance in The Shawshank Redemption (1994), co-starring Morgan Freeman. But he was nominated for on Oscar, not for acting, but for directing the 1995 film Dead Man Walking. The film was a gripping drama that earned Sean Penn an Oscar nomination, and won Sarandon her first statue (after four previous nominations).

He returned to the screen in 1999 with a cameo in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, and a starring role in the thriller Arlington Road. As for his work behind the camera, Robbins produced, directed, and scripted a film based on the true story of a banned play by the same name, Cradle Will Rock. The well-reviewed movie, which boasted a superb ensemble cast rounded out by Sarandon, Joan Cusack, John Cusack, Bill Murray, John Turturro, and Hank Azaria, was released to critical kudos in 1999.

In 2000, Robbins had a humorous turn in pal John Cusack's High Fidelity. Upcoming films include a manners-obsessed research scientist in Human Nature, and The Truth About Charlie, Jonathon Demme's re-make of Charade. Robbins also continues to direct and run the Actors Gang, which is entering its 20th season.

Robbins and Sarandon have two sons, in addition to Sarandon's daughter from a previous relationship. The family makes their home in New York City.