Susan Sarandon (born 1946) is an American actress who has appeared in almost 50 films. Ben Yagoda, in American Film, suggests "Sarandon is a character actor, in the best sense of the word, with attributes that don't necessarily translate into the traditional notion of stardom." As an actress and a political activist, Sarandon presents an important side of American cinema.

Born to Phillip, an advertising executive, and Lenora Marie Crisicione Tomalin, Sarandon was the eldest of the couple's nine children. Growing up in a Welsh/Italian household she was raised Catholic. As a teenager in the 1960s Sarandon was active in the civil rights and anti-war movements and was arrested in high school for participating in protests.

After graduating from high school, she attended Catholic University in Washington D.C. She graduated from college with a degree in Drama in 1969. While in college she met Chris Sarandon who shared her...