Robin Tunney

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Robin Tunney
RobinTunneyHWOFFeb2013.jpg
Tunney in February 2013
Born Robin Jessica Tunney
(1972-06-19) June 19, 1972 (age 40)
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Occupation Actress
Years active 1992–present
Spouse(s) Bob Gosse (m. 1997–d. 2002)

Robin Jessica Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Teresa Lisbon in the television series The Mentalist, as well as starring in Prison Break and the movies The Craft, End of Days, and Vertical Limit.

Contents

Early life [edit]

Tunney was born in Chicago, Illinois to a car salesman father, Patrick, and a bartender mother, Cathy.[1][2] Tunney is Irish American;[3][4] her father was born in Straide, County Mayo, Ireland, while her maternal grandparents were from Clare Island.[5] Tunney grew up in Orland Park, Illinois, a southwest suburb of Chicago. She was raised Roman Catholic,[4] attended Carl Sandburg High School in Orland Park and the Chicago Academy for the Arts in Chicago,[6] and resided in Palos Heights, Illinois, also in the Chicago area.[7] She is a cousin of Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney.[7]

Career [edit]

At the age of 19, Tunney moved to Los Angeles, California and obtained several recurring TV roles on Class of '96, Law & Order, Dream On, and Life Goes On. She gave her breakthrough performance as a suicidal teenager in Empire Records, and attracted further attention by playing a witch in The Craft. She shaved her head for Empire Records and had to wear a wig in The Craft.

In 1997, Tunney starred in Bob Gosse's Niagara, Niagara with Henry Thomas in a performance which garnered her the Best Actress award Volpi Cup at the 1997 Venice International Film Festival. Tunney also was featured opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1999 supernatural action film End of Days.

She starred in the pilot episode of House as a kindergarten teacher who collapses before her class and descends into aphasia. She was credited as 'special guest star'.

She portrayed Veronica Donovan on the first season of Prison Break, credited third after two main characters. She also appeared in the premiere episode of season two, when her character was killed off.

She had a minor role in the film August released on July 11, 2008.

Tunney is currently starring opposite Simon Baker in the CBS drama series The Mentalist. She appeared on the February 11, 2009 edition of The Ellen DeGeneres Show to discuss Baker and the show.

Personal life [edit]

Tunney married producer/director Bob Gosse on October 4, 1997;[8] they divorced in 2002. In 2009, Tunney was engaged to Australian writer/director Andrew Dominik[9] but their relationship ended by August 2010.[10] She got engaged to interior designer Nicky Marmet on December 25, 2012 while on vacation in Rio de Janeiro.[11]

On June 28, 2006, Tunney won the fifth table of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown's eighth season, finishing ahead of Christopher Meloni, Macy Gray, Joy Behar, and Andy Dick, moving on to the final cut. The finale aired on July 5, 2006, where she competed against Jason Alexander, Michael Ian Black, Ida Siconolfi, and Keegan-Michael Key. Tunney came in second, behind Alexander. She played for The Children's Health Fund, which received $200,000 for her efforts. In August 2006, Tunney played in the World Series of Poker after having her entrance fee covered by the online cardroom PokerRoom.com.

Filmography [edit]

Year Title Role Notes
1992 Encino Man Ella
1992 Perry Mason: The Case of Reckless Romeo Sandra Turner TV movie
1993 JFK: Reckless Youth Kathleen 'Kick' Kennedy TV movie
1994 Law & Order Jill Templeton Episode: "Mayhem"
1995 Empire Records Debra
1996 The Craft Sarah Bailey
1996 Riders of the Purple Sage Elizabeth 'Bess' Erne, Oldring's Masked Rider/Daughter
1997 Julian Po Sarah
1997 Niagara, Niagara Marcy
1998 Montana Kitty
1998 Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Families Melvina 'Malka' Csizmadi
1999 End of Days Christine York
2000 Vertical Limit Annie Garrett
2000 Supernova Danika Lund
2001 Investigating Sex Zoe
2002 The Secret Lives of Dentists Laura
2002 Cherish Zoe
2003 Abby Singer Herself (Cameo)
2003 The In-Laws Angela Harris
2003 The Twilight Zone Edie Durant Episode: "Developing"
2004 Paparazzi Abby Laramie
2004 House Rebecca Adler Pilot episode
2004 Shadow of Fear Wynn French
2005 The Zodiac Laura Parish
2005 Runaway Carly
2005–2006 Prison Break Veronica Donovan Season 1, and season 2 episode "Manhunt"
2006 Hollywoodland Leonore Lemmon
2006 The Darwin Awards Zoe
2006 Open Window[12] Izzy
2008 August Melanie
2008 The Burning Plain Laura
2008 Passenger Side Theresa
2008 The Two Mr. Kissels Nancy Kissel
2008–present The Mentalist Teresa Lisbon TV series
2012 See Girl Run Emmie

Awards and nominations [edit]

Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
Boston Film Festival
Independent Spirit Awards
MTV Movie Awards
People's Choice Awards
Volpi Cup

References [edit]

  1. ^ "Robin Tunney Biography (1972?-)". Film Reference. 
  2. ^ McGavin, Patrick Z (July 5, 1998). "It's All An Act". Chicago Tribune. 
  3. ^ Burgerstein, Jonathan (March 1998). "Fly, Robin Hood, flyperpa". Interview. 
  4. ^ a b Hughes, Scott (1999-12-05). "Robin Tunney's angst-ridden roles". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2010-06-24. "...her compulsion to tackle tough parts range from her Irish-Catholic background..." 
  5. ^ http://www.independent.ie/lifestyle/my-irish-dad-would-pretend-to-be-a-gay-hairdresser-26834260.html
  6. ^ "Robin Tunney:Biography". Movies MSN. Retrieved 2010-06-24. 
  7. ^ a b Crowder, Courtney (2010-09-21). "Palos Heights native wears a smile on CBS' 'Mentalist'". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 2010-10-15. 
  8. ^ Weiner, Carey (March 22, 1998). "Up and Coming: Robin Tunney; a young best actress takes the plunge in 'Niagara, Niagara'". New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2010. 
  9. ^ Zuckerman, Suzanne (May, 2009). "Actress Robin Tunney on How to Speak Your Mind". Women's Health. Retrieved December 28, 2010. 
  10. ^ Morrison, Mark (August, 2010). "Robin's Green Shades". In Style Magazine. Retrieved December 28, 2010. 
  11. ^ Nicole Eggenberger (February 5, 2013). "Exclusive: Robin Tunney, the Mentalist star, engaged to Nicky Marmet". US Weekly. Retrieved February 18, 2013. 
  12. ^ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0345228/

External links [edit]