Susan Sarandon and her ex-husband Chris Sarandon divorced in 1979 and 45 years later, she still carries his surname.

The prolific actress – who previously said she never wanted to marry Chris – explained why she kept his name and in retrospect which name she would have changed instead.

‘He was a very kind man and he kept me alive, you know, so I’m happy to have that name,’ Susan, 78, told The Times as she promoted her new film The Gutter.

The former couple, who never had children together and remain friends decades later, met in the mid-60s in college at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.

She was an undergrad paying her way through college by living with her grandparents to save money and working the switchboard in the drama department where Chris was a graduate student. 

Susan Sarandon and her ex-husband Chris Sarandon divorced in 1979 and 45 years later, she still carries his surname. Seen here in 1974

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‘When I met Chris, I thought and correctly so, that he knew everything because he took me to black and white movies and introduced me to literature and basically saved my life actually with his kindness,’ Susan said during at episode of his podcast Cooking by Heart last year.

‘And so really, I credit you with my foundation and my survival. One of the reasons I’m here is just to publicly say that,’ Susan told Chris, 82, during the podcast. 

Susan’s maiden name is Tomalin and in retrospect she still wouldn’t go back and change her name from Sarandon to that.

But she would change her first name.  

‘Sigourney Weaver, Tuesday Weld and Stockard Channing all started out Susans and they had the sense to change that name and I’m stuck with Susan,’ she told The Times. 

‘It’s kind of nice to do a rechristening as you start to realize who you are.’

While she and Chris didn’t have kids, and, in fact, she was told she couldn’t have kids during that marriage, the Thelma and Louise star surprisingly found herself expecting at age 39 when she was dating Italian director Franco Amurri. T

Their daughter Eva Amurri is now 39 and also an actress. Sarandon also had two sons with her longtime partner Tim Robbins. Jack Henry Robbins is 35 and Miles Robbins is 32. Both are in the film industry. 

Susan’s maiden name is Tomalin and in retrospect she still wouldn’t go back and change her name from Sarandon to that. Seen here in 2024

The prolific actress explained why she kept his name and in retrospect which name she would have changed in its stead. Seen here in 1985

He was a very kind man and he kept me alive, you know, so I’m happy to have that name,’ Susan, 78, told The Times as she promoted her new film The Gutter. Seen here in 2003

Susan and Tim met in 1987 on the set of Bill Durham and were together – though never legally married – until 2009. 

And though The Hunger star has dated a who’s who of famous men, including David Bowie, she has vowed to never write a memoir. 

When asked about dating now, she called herself ‘unattached’ and evoked a line from a Beatles song.

‘What is the line? “The love you take is equal to the love you make.” I think it’s very hard these days, when we’re being ᴀssailed by so much negativity and selfishness and greed, to hold a place of love and possibility that people can find when the dust settles.’