Chris Sarandon Biography
Born: July 24, 1942
Formerly husband to Susan_Sarandon, whom he met while attending the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., Chris Sarandon spent nearly a decade performing on-stage before making his first television appearance alongside Gene_Wilder and Bob_Newhart in Thursday's_Game in 1974. While that appearance was well received by its audience, Sarandon wouldn't achieve widespread critical recognition from the film industry until his portrayal of an overwrought transsexual opposite Al_Pacino in Dog_Day_Afternoon (1975). Sarandon's performance earned him two prestigious nominations (New Star of the Year - Male from the Golden Globes and Best Actor from the Academy), and by all indications, Sarandon was headed toward a bright future on the silver screen.
Rather than jumping into a full-time movie career, however, Sarandon continued his work in theater (he replaced Raul_Julia in the Tony-winning Broadway musical +The Two Gentlemen of Verona) and appeared in a series of television roles, some of which (such as A Tale of Two Cities in 1980) mirrored his affinity for the classics, while others -- namely The_Day_Christ_Died, in which he played the title role -- offered an opportunity for the actor to get in touch with his religious side. Oddly enough, Sarandon would also appear in a slew of satanic or otherwise horror-themed films, including The_Sentinel (1976), Fright_Night (1985), and Child's_Play (1988). It was his decidedly less grim role as the insidious Prince Humperdinck in Rob_Reiner's The_Princess_Bride, however, that would bring his name back into the hearts of American audiences, albeit his place therein was reserved for fairy tale bad guys.
Despite his success, Sarandon was unable to gain mainstream American recognition for a starring role, though his performance as a Holocaust survivor in Forced_March (1990) did not go unnoticed by critics. Not long afterward, select U.S. filmgoers were treated to his portrayal of a man obsessed with his deceased ancestor's rumored ability to raise the dead in Alien scriptwriter Dan O'Bannon's The_Resurrected (1991). In 1993, Sarandon earned no small amount of approval for giving voice to Jack Skellington, the bony star of Tim_Burton's gleefully sinister The_Nightmare_Before_Christmas. After participating in a vampire documentary, an episode of the cult-favorite Tales From the Crypt Presents Bordello of Blood, and, of all things, the film adaptation of Louisa_May_Alcott's family classic -Little Men, Sarandon landed a recurring role as Dr. Burke on NBC's long-running medical drama ER. Tracie Cooper, Rovi
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