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Background:
Veteran American actor/filmmaker Tim Robbins takes your breath away with his
dead-on portrayal of Dave Boyle, a man traumatized by his childhood experience
of sexual abuse, in the psychological thriller Mystic River (2003), which
eventually garnered him a number of awards, including an Academy Award, a Golden
Globe Award and a Screen Actors Guild Award. Robbins, who was granted the 1996
Brussels International Film Festival’s Crystal Iris and the 1997 Sundance Film
Festival’s Tribute to Independent Vision award, already became a Hollywood
success in 1992 after getting critical applause for his performance in two
films, the self-directed Bob Roberts (1992, earned a Bronze Award from the Tokyo
International Film Festival) and Robert Altman’s The Player (1992, took home a
Golden Globe Award and a Cannes Film Festival Award).
Robbins solidified his reputation as a talented actor with his performance in
Short Cuts (1993, took home a Golden Globe Special Award and a Venice Film
Festival’s Volpi Cup) and Altman’s Prêt-À-Porter (1994, netted a National Board
of Review Award). He also proved his directing and screenwriting skills through
Dead Man Walking (1995, won 3 prizes from the 1996 Berlin International Film
Festival, a Humanitas Prize and earned an Oscar and Golden Globe nomination), as
well as the political drama Cradle Will Rock (1999, reaped two Gran Angulars
from the Catalonian International Film Festival, a People’s Choice from the
Istanbul International Film Festival and a National Board of Review Award).
Off screen, Robbins is the owner of the production company Havoc Inc., which he
formed in 1993 under the initial name of Chaos Productions. The actor, who
became the 60th of Empire (UK) magazine’s “The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time”
(1997), is famous for his anti-Iraqi war standpoint and called George W Bush’s
administration “chicken hawks” in early 2003. He had to hire a Public Relations
firm to help him neutralize the backlash of his anti-war comments. In contrast,
for his political stance, UCLA scholars named him the “Alumnus of The Year” in
April 2003. A long-time Green Party member, Robbins and Susan Sarandon made
headlines with their remarks about the plight of Haitians with AIDS during the
1993 Academy Awards ceremony. Robbins and Sarandon are longtime partners and
have two sons from their relationship.
Male Death Cult
Childhood and Family:
Tim Robbins was born Timothy Francis Robbins on October 16, 1958, in West
Covina, California, to folk-singer/nightclub manager Gil Robbins and publishing
executive Mary Robbins. Two years after his birth, the family moved to Greenwich
Village, in New York.
Tim inherited his father’s gift for performing, like his older siblings David
Robbins (composer), Adele Robbins (actress) and Gabrielle Robbins (cabaret
artist). He began performing in a duet with his father in the protest song “Ink
Is Black But the Page Is White.” Young Tim joined the Theater for the New City
when he was 12. He also joined the drama club of his high school, the Stuyvesant
High School, and tried stage directing. Tim then briefly attended the State
University of New York at Plattsburgh before transferring to UCLA, where he took
a Drama program and signed up for the drama softball team, Male Death Cult.
As for his family life, Tim Robbins is the father of two sons, John Henry (born
in May 1989) and Miles (born on May 4, 1992), from his longtime relationship
with actress Susan Sarandon. He also has a stepdaughter named Eva Maria Livia
Amurri (born on March 15, 1985), from Sarandon’s previous marriage to Italian
director Franco Amurri.
Dead Man Walking
Career:
After graduating from college, Tim Robbins and his college softball teammates
founded the avant-garde theater troupe Actors’ Gang, in 1981, where he also
served as the artistic director until 1997. The stage experience with the troupe
led him to the screen, where he received an unaccredited part as a slave in an
episode of “Buck Rogers in the 25th Century” (1979). Following the episodic
performance as Andrew Reinhardt in the medical drama series “St. Elsewhere”
(1982), Robbins made his TV-movie debut in Quarterback Princess (1983, as
Marvin) and went to the big screen with Toy Soldiers (1984, played Boe).
The actor tried his hand at directing with the Bob Roberts segment of the
long-running show “Saturday Night Live” (1986, also had an unaccredited
performance), after taking the role of Larry “Mother” Tucker in Fraternity
Vacation (1985). Before long, he acquired prominent roles in Five Corners (1987,
starred as Harry), the Ron Shelton-helmed and written Bull Durham (1988, acted
opposite Susan Sarandon) and the fantasy comedy Erik the Viking (1989, played
the title character). Also in 1989, Robbins co-wrote and directed The Actors
Gang in a staging of “Carnage.”
The comedy Cadillac Man (1990) and Spike Lee’s Jungle Fever (1991) gave the
actor his breakthrough in 1992. Reviving his Saturday Night Live title
character, Robbins wrote the script and all the songs, as well as played the
titular role of a corrupt rightwing folksinger in his feature directorial debut,
Bob Roberts (1992). For his effort in the movie, he was handed a Bronze award
from the Tokyo International Film Festival and earned a Golden Globe nomination
for Best Actor. Maintaining his initial success, the actor made a first
collaboration with the acclaimed director Robert Altman in the satirical
anti-Hollywood film The Player (1992), where his performance as murderous
Hollywood executive Griffin Mill was granted a Golden Globe and a Cannes Film
Festival award for Best Actor, as well as a BAFTA nomination. The same year,
Robbins also presented his first radio play, “Mayhem: The Invasion” (1992), for
L.A. Theater Works.
Rejoining Altman, Robbins was cast as Gene Shepard in the short stories collage
Short Cuts (1993) and took home a Golden Globe Special award and a Venice Film
Festival’s Volpi Cup for Best Ensemble Cast. In 1994, the talented performer did
an excellent job in Altman’s Prêt-À-Porter (won a National Board of Review) and
the adaptation of Stephen King’s novel The Shawshank Redemption (earned a Screen
Actors Guild nomination).
The onscreen victory was soon ensued by his masterful directing and writing in
the drama Dead Man Walking (1995, also produced and wrote the song “The Face of
Love”), which was based on Helen Prejean’s book about her experience in
assisting a death row convict during his last days. Gaining international
appreciation, Robbins won three prizes from the 1996 Berlin International Film
Festival: a Prize of the Ecumenical Jury – Competition, a Prize of the Guild of
German Art House Cinemas, and a Reader Jury of the Berliner Morgenpost. He was
also handed a Humanitas Prize for Feature Film Category, as well as Oscar’s Best
Director and Golden Globe’s Best Screenplay nominations. Detouring to the
documentary film, he executive produced, hosted, narrated and served as
interviewer for “The Typewriter, the Rifle and the Movie Camera” (1996).
The recipient of the 1996 Brussels International Film Festival’s Crystal Iris
and the 1997 Sundance Film Festival’s Tribute to Independent Vision award,
Robbins costarred as hotshot advertising executive Nick Beam, alongside Martin
Lawrence, in Nothing to Lose (1997) before making another cinematic sensation
two years later with the political drama Cradle Will Rock. In this 1999 movie,
Robbins made superb directing and screenwriting attempts and collected various
awards, like two Gran Angulars from the Catalonian International Film Festival
in Spain, a People’s Choice from the Istanbul International Film Festival and a
National Board of Review. For the project, Robbins also contributed his vocals
for the voice on the film reel (unaccredited).
Robbins continued astonishing viewers with his part as Woodrow ‘Woody’ Blake in
Brian De Palma’s sci-fi Mission to Mars (2000) and scientist Dr. Nathan Bronfman
in the Cannes-premiered Human Nature (2001, also sang “Me and Bobby McGee”). The
stage artist then directed the Actors’ Gang production of “Mephisto” (2001)
before performing opposite Helen Hunt in the 9/11 themed two-person play “The
Guys” (2002). His screen role as Lewis Bartholomew in the thriller The Truth
About Charlie (2002) brought him a first TV series directing task for the
short-lived comedy drama “Queens Supreme” (2003), starring Oliver Platt and
Robert Loggia.
Robbins’ near-to-flawless acting victory came after he brilliantly portrayed
Dave Boyle, a man traumatized by his childhood sexual abuse experience, in Clint
Eastwood’s psychological thriller Mystic River (2003). The performer harvested
many awards, including an Oscar, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild for
Best Supporting Actor. The movie, based on Dennis Lehane’s novel, also starred
Sean Penn and Kevin Bacon as Dave Boyle’s childhood friends.
Two years after the thriller’s release, Robbins teamed up with Steven Spielberg
in his sci-fi adventure movie War of the Worlds (2005) and played Harlan Ogilvy,
alongside Tom Cruise and child star Dakota Fanning. Soon, he will be seen as
policeman Nic Vos in the Apartheid-era drama Catch a Fire (2006) and as the
stranger in the Jack Black and Kyle Gass-written comedy Tenacious D in ‘The Pick
of Destiny’ (2006). Robbins is also taking on roles in the comedy Noise (2006)
and The White Rose (2006), where he will act opposite Albert Finney, Christina
Ricci and Liam Neeson.
Awards:
- Boston Society of Film Critics: Best Ensemble Cast, Mystic River, 2004
- Oscar: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River, 2004
- Broadcast Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River,
2004
- Chicago Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River,
2004
- Critics’ Choice: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River, 2004
- Florida Film Critics Circle: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River, 2004
- Golden Globe: Best Supporting Movie Performer - Male, Mystic River, 2004
- Screen Actors Guild: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic River, 2004
- Southeastern Film Critics Association: Best Supporting Actor, Mystic
River, 2003
- Woodstock Film Festival: Honorary Maverick Award, 2002
- Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain: Gran Angular
Award - Best Director, Cradle Will Rock, 2000
- Catalonian International Film Festival, Sitges, Spain: Gran Angular
Award - Best Film, Cradle Will Rock, 2000
- Istanbul International Film Festival: People’s Choice Award -
International Competition, Cradle Will Rock, 2000
- National Board of Review: Special Achievement in Filmmaking, Cradle Will
Rock, 1999
- Sundance Film Festival: Tribute to Independent Vision Award, 1997
- Brussels International Film Festival: Crystal Iris, 1996
- Berlin International Film Festival: Prize of the Ecumenical Jury -
Competition, Dead Man Walking, 1996
- Berlin International Film Festival: Prize of the Guild of German Art
House Cinemas, Dead Man Walking, 1996
- Berlin International Film Festival: Reader Jury of the Berliner
Morgenpost, Dead Man Walking, 1996
- Humanitas Prize: Feature Film Category, Dead Man Walking, 1996
- National Board of Review: Best Ensemble Performance, Prêt-À-Porter, 1994
- Golden Globe: Special Award - Best Ensemble Cast, Short Cuts, 1994
- Venice Film Festival: Volpi Cup - Best Ensemble Cast, Short Cuts, 1993
- Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture -
Comedy/Musical, The Player, 1993
- Cannes Film Festival: Best Actor, The Player, 1992
- Tokyo International Film Festival: Bronze Award, Bob Roberts, 1992
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