Tim Robbins's Real Name: Timothy Francis Robbins

Quick answer: Tim Robbins's full name is Timothy Francis Robbins. He was born on October 16, 1958, in West Covina, California. He is usually billed as Tim Robbins. He starred in The Shawshank Redemption (1994) and won an Academy Award for Mystic River (2003). He also wrote and directed Bob Roberts (1992) and received an Oscar nomination for directing Dead Man Walking (1995) (Britannica; Britannica Kids).

Real name and early life

Britannica Kids gives the name "in full" as Timothy Francis Robbins, born October 16, 1958, in West Covina. The Library of Congress files him as "Robbins, Tim, 1958-." His father was a folk musician, and Robbins grew up in New York City's Greenwich Village neighborhood. As a teenager he performed with Theatre for the New City.

After a short time at the State University of New York at Plattsburgh, he transferred to the University of California, Los Angeles, to study drama. Britannica says he graduated in 1982; a Library of Congress name-authority note says he graduated with honors in 1981. In 1981 he helped found the experimental company The Actors' Gang and became its artistic director.

Career highlights

Early television work included guest parts on St. Elsewhere, The Love Boat, and Hill Street Blues, taken partly to help fund The Actors' Gang. His film debut was the B-movie Toy Soldiers (1984). In 1986 he appeared in Top Gun and Howard the Duck.

His breakthrough was the pitcher Nuke LaLoosh in Bull Durham (1988), which also starred Susan Sarandon. He later appeared in Jacob's Ladder (1990). In 1992 he won the Cannes best-actor prize and a Golden Globe as a studio executive in Robert Altman's The Player, and he wrote, directed, and starred in the mockumentary Bob Roberts.

In 1994 he played a banker wrongly convicted of murder in The Shawshank Redemption, adapted from a Stephen King story. The next year he received an Academy Award nomination for directing Dead Man Walking. In Clint Eastwood's Mystic River (2003) he won the Oscar and a Golden Globe for best supporting actor. Later work includes Dark Waters (2019) and the HBO series The Brink (2015).

Name notes for searchers

Timothy Francis Robbins is the documented full name; Tim Robbins is the short form used in credits. He should not be confused with other public figures named Tim Robbins.