Robin Tunney Biography / Pictures

Robin Tunney (born June 19, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series Prison Break and The Mentalist.

Biography

Tunney, who is the cousin of Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney, was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a car salesman father and a bartender mother. Robin is Irish American; her father Pat emigrated from Ireland and grew up on the South Side of Chicago in Orland Park. She was raised Roman Catholic and she attended Catholic high school. Robin Tunney then went on to study Art at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.

At the age of 19, Robin 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, Robin 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. Robin also was featured opposite Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1999 action film End of Days.

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

Robin Tunney portrayed Veronica Donovan on the first season of Prison Break, credited third after two main characters. Her only appearance outside of the first season was in the premiere episode of season two in which her character was brutally killed.

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

Robin 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.

Robin married producer/director Bob Gosse on October 4, 1997 but they divorced in 2002. Since 2007, Robin was engaged to Australian writer/director Andrew Dominik but she is single as of August 2010.

On June 28, 2006, Robin 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. Robin came in second, behind Alexander. She played for The Children's Health Fund, which received $200,000 for her efforts. In August 2006, Robin played in the World Series of Poker after having her entrance fee covered by the online cardroom PokerRoom.com.