Detailed Biography

Robin Tunney is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the movie The Craft and the television series The Mentalist.

Early life

Tunney was born in Chicago, Illinois, to a car salesman father and a bartender mother. Tunney is Irish American; her father emigrated from Ireland and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She graduated from Carl Sandburg High School in 1990. She then went on to study Art at the Chicago Academy for the Arts.

Career

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 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 dysphasia. She was credited as 'special guest star'.

She 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.

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

In 1997, Tunney married producer/director Bob Gosse. They separated in 2002. She is the cousin of Chicago Alderman Tom Tunney.

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.

In 2007, Tunney married Australian writer/director Andrew Dominik.