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ROBIN TUNNEY

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The fact that her career started in a Perry Mason movie hasn't hindered Robin Tunney's quest to establish herself on the big screen. She has been able to land roles ever since and can now be seen around town in the rock-climbing romp Vertical Limit, which opens today.

Tunney (right) was born on June 19, 1971, on the south side of Chicago. It was during high school at St Ignatius College Preparatory that she first trod the boards. She soon moved on to a formal drama course at the Chicago Academy for the Performing Arts, which brought summer work in plays such as Bus Stop and Agnes Of God.

At 18, the bright lights of Los Angeles beckoned and she set off to find fame and fortune. First there was work to be found in television shows Life Goes On and Class of 96 (hardly classics) and later in the popular Law & Order. The year 1992 saw Tunney's breakthrough.

She won a small role in the made-for-TV Perry Mason: The Case Of The Reckless Romeo and then hit the jackpot alongside Brendan Fraser and Pauly Shore in Encino Man.

That was followed by another production that became a cult classic (in the US at least) - The Craft (1996). She was worshipped by pimply teen misfits across the US by playing a pimply teen misfit who takes revenge on all the clear-skinned cool kids.

Acclaim was to follow in 1999 when her part as a woman with Tourette's Syndrome in the drama Niagara Niagara won her the Volpi Cup for best actress at the Venice Film Festival. From there the blockbusters started calling, first alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger in End Of Days (1999) and now with Vertical Limit.

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