Politics also crept into the darts Robbins lobbed at his roasters’ very existence towards the end of the ceremony.
“Perhaps if George Bush had been president 20 years ago and there were abstinence programs in place...,” he began, trailing off. “Oh, you know they don’t work,” he continued after a moment. “We’d have the same people here.”
Robbins donned blonde curls and a prison-striped brassiere while amiably accepting kisses from cross-dressed students at the roast’s conclusion. Grinning in partial drag, the actor jestingly propositioned Garber for “a little girl-on-girl action.”
Earlier, when a black-and-white photo of former First Lady Mamie Eisenhower appeared on stage, Robbins attempted to seize it “for later.”
“Porno is acceptable for married men,” he said.
But Robbins firmly insisted that actress Susan Sarandon, his long-term partner, had been the Pudding’s sexiest Woman of the Year. Sarandon was feted by the Pudding in 1996.
In addition to the radiant Pudding Pot, a gift basket with products from local retailers valued at approximately $5,000, and the undergraduates’ constant stream of verbal barbs, Robbins received a motley shower of additional presents. Towards the beginning of the roast, he was offered a baggie of what appared to be faux marijuana, which he swiftly pocketed.
“I’ve been looking for that all day!” Robbins exclaimed to applause.
And at a press conference after the roast, Cambridge Mayor Michael A. Sullivan made a surprise appearance to bestow a key to the city on Robbins. Sullivan also took the opportunity, after 8:30 p.m., to formally proclaim February 17, 2005 “Tim Robbins Day.”
“[After] your performance and your ability to negotiate with Harvard students, we were thinking of bringing you back next time we needed to,” quipped the mayor.
—Staff writer Simon W. Vozick-Levinson can be reached at vozick@fas.harvard.edu.