Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins’s Relationship Timeline

The Gist:

• Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins met on the set of Bull Durham.
• They have two children together.
• After never marrying, they broke up in 2009.

It’s a tale as old as cinema. The stars fall madly in love with each other after meeting on set, garnering an extravagant fanbase surrounding their romance, and then they break up in a heartbreaking ending. Suddenly, fans no longer believe in love until they find another couple to believe in. Susan Sarandon and Tim Robbins were truly the “it” couple of the 80s and 90s and fans are still mourning the loss of their favorite high-profile relationship.

The relationship spanned 23 years and became the talk of 2009 when it came to its sudden, crashing halt. Tabloids and journalists were buzzing as they tried to figure out what actually caused the brutal end. However, the entire rise and fall of their love is truly remarkable.

What better way to set the mood for a long-term relationship than working on a romantic comedy together? Together, they were key characters in Bull Durham. Susan played Annie Savoy across from Kevin Costner’s Crash Davis, a veteran baseball catcher. Tim played Ebby Calvin “Nuke” LaLoosh, a baseball pitcher who shows incredible promise.

IMDb explains that the film is about “a fan who has an affair with one minor-league baseball player each season and meets an up-and-coming pitcher and the experienced catcher assigned to him.” A love triangle ensues as Annie finds herself having the hots for both Nuke and Crash. Regardless of their character’s outcomes, Susan and Tim found themselves falling for each other.

Only one year after meeting and while out of wedlock, Susan and Tim welcomed baby John “Jack” Henry in the world on May 15, 1989. Their son grew up to pursue a career in acting and film-making like his parents.

According to InStyle, Susan and Tim lived in New York City together, sharing an apartment in West Village in 1991. Despite living together and having one child so far together, the pair didn’t get married.

“I’ve always liked the idea of choosing to be with somebody. I thought that if you didn’t get married you wouldn’t take each other for granted as easily. I don’t know if after 20-something years that was still true,” Susan later explained to the Huffington Post in 2011.

While living in the West Village, Susan and Tim welcomed their second son, Miles Robbins, into the world on May 4, 1992. Miles went on to pursue a career in acting including roles in The X-Files and My Friend Dahmer.

In a very dramatic separation, Susan and Tim ended their relationship publicly with an announcement in December 2009. “Actress Susan Sarandon and her partner of 23 years, actor Tim Robbins have announced that they separated over the summer,” a statement from Susan’s team explained, according to ABC.

At the time, there was lots of speculation about Susan’s potential relationship status with someone else — film producer Jonathan Bricklin. A representative denied any sort of romance between the two, calling their relationship “strictly a business one.”

Later, the pair did enter into a relationship. In fact, it lasted for several years, during which time they happened to start a chain of ping-pong lounges. They broke up in 2015.

Susan later said that she rethought her relationship with Tim while she was on Broadway in Exit the King. “You can’t do a meditation on death and stay in a situation that’s not authentic,” she told AARP the Magazine in 2014. “It made me examine where I was in my union and in my life, and to have discussions about making changes.”

Years after their breakup, Susan and Tim were seen together in Venice, Calif. at dinner with their son Jack, according to E! News. While it didn’t lead to any sort of resolve in their battered relationship, it was a sign of unity at the time.