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Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver
Biographical information
Birth name

Susan Alexandra Weaver

Born

October 8, 1949
Manhattan, New York City

Died
First credit Annie Hall (1977)
Further information
Link(s) IMDb
Wikipedia

Sigourney Weaver is an American actress. She is known for her critically acclaimed role of Ellen Ripley in the four Alien films: Alien, Aliens, Alien 3, and Alien Resurrection, for which she has received worldwide recognition.

Alien franchise credits[]

Ellen Ripley[]

Ripley 8[]

Ripley 7[]

Filmography[]

  • Annie Hall (1977) - Alvy's Date Outside Theater
  • Madman (1978) - Not Specified
  • Alien (1979) - Ellen Ripley
  • Eyewitness (1981) - Tony Sokolow
  • The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) - Jilly Bryant
  • Deal of the Century (1983) - Catherine DeVoto
  • Ghostbusters (1984) - Dana Barrett
  • Terror in the Aisles (1984) - Archival footage
  • Une Femme ou Deux (1985) - Jessica Fitzgerald
  • Half Moon Street (1986) - Dr. Lauren Slaughter
  • Aliens (1986) - Ellen Ripley
  • Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) - Dian Fossey
  • Working Girl (1988) - Katharine Parker
  • Ghostbusters II (1989) - Dana Barrett
  • Alien 3 (1992) - Ellen Ripley
  • 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992) - Queen Isabella
  • Dave (1993) - Ellen Mitchell
  • Death and the Maiden (1994) - Paulina Escobar
  • Copycat (1995) - Helen Hudson
  • Jeffrey (1995) - Debra Moorhouse
  • The Ice Storm (1997) - Janey Carver
  • Alien Resurrection (1997) - Ripley 8 and Ripley 7
  • A Map of the World (1999) - Alice Goodwin
  • Galaxy Quest (1999) - Gwen DeMarco/Lieutenant Tawny Madison
  • Company Man (2000) - Daisy Quimp
  • Heartbreakers (2001) - Max Conners/Angela
  • Tadpole (2002) - Eve Grubman
  • The Guys (2002) - Joan
  • Holes (2003) - Warden Walker
  • Imaginary Heroes (2004) - Sandy Travis
  • The Village (2004) - Alice Hunt
  • Snow Cake (2006) - Linda Freeman
  • The TV Set (2006) - Lenny
  • Infamous (2006) - Babe Paley
  • The Girl in the Park (2007) - Julia Sandburg
  • Vantage Point (2008) - Rex Brooks
  • Be Kind Rewind (2008) - Ms. Lawson
  • Baby Mama (2008) - Chaffee Bicknell
  • Avatar (2009) - Dr. Grace Augustine
  • Crazy on the Outside (2010) - Vicky
  • You Again (2010) - Aunt Ramona
  • Cedar Rapids (2011) - Marcy Vanderhei
  • Paul (2011) - "The Big Guy"
  • Abduction (2011) - Dr. Bennett
  • Rampart (2011) - Joan Confrey
  • The Cabin in the Woods (2012) - The Director
  • Vamps (2012) - Cisserus
  • The Cold Light of Day (2012)
  • Red Lights (2012) - Margaret Matheson
  • Happy Holidays, Katherine Sloane (2012) - Hadley Sloane

Television roles[]

  • Somerset (1976) - Avis Ryan
  • The Best of Families (1977) - Laura Wheeler
  • 3 by Cheever: The Sorrows of Gin (1979) - Marcia Lawton
  • 3 by Cheever: O Youth and Beauty! (1979) - Marcia Lawton
  • Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997) - Lady Claudia Hoffman
  • Eli Stone (2008) - The Therapist
  • Prayers for Bobby (2009) - Mary Griffith
  • Spring/Fall (2011)
  • Political Animals (2012) - Elaine Barrish

Documentaries[]

  • Why Dogs Smile & Chimpanzees Cry (1999) - The Narrator
  • Planet Earth (2006) - The Narrator
  • Gorillas Revisited (2006) - Herself
  • ACID TEST: The Global Challenge of Ocean Acidification (2009) - The Narrator

Short films[]

  • Rabbit Ears: Peachboy (1993) - The Narrator
  • The Wild Swans (1994) - The Narrator

Animated roles[]

  • Futurama (2002) - The Female Planet Express Ship
  • Happily N'Ever After (2007) - Frieda
  • WALL•E (2008) - Computer
  • The Tale of Despereaux (2008) - The Narrator

Video games[]

  • Avatar: The Game (2009) - Dr. Grace Augustine

Biographical information[]

Early life[]

Weaver was born in Manhattan, New York City, the daughter of Elizabeth Inglis (née Desiree Mary Lucy Hawkins; 1913–2007), an English actress, and the NBC television executive Sylvester "Pat" Laflin Weaver (1908–2002), an American of Scottish, Irish, and early New England ancestry. Her uncle, Doodles Weaver (1911-1983) , was a comedian and actor. She began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963, aged fourteen, after a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.

Weaver attended the Ethel Walker School, a prep school in Simsbury, Connecticut, where she was made fun of all the time for being a nerd and for her height. She also attended The Chapin School. Sigourney was reportedly 5′ 10½″ tall by the age of 14, but she only grew another inch during her teens to her adult height of 5′ 11½″. Weaver graduated from Stanford University, with a bachelor of arts degree in English in 1972, but she had already begun her involvement in acting, by living in Stanford's co-ed Beta Chi Community for the Performing Arts. Weaver earned her Master of Fine Arts degree at the Yale University School of Drama in 1974, where one of her appearances was in the chorus in a production of Stephen Sondheim's play, The Frogs, and another was as one of a mob of Roman soldiers in another production. Weaver later acted in original plays by her friend and classmate Christopher Durang. She later appeared in an "Off Broadway" production of Durang's comedy Beyond Therapy in 1981, which was directed by the up-and-coming director Jerry Zaks.

Film career[]

Weaver have portrayed other notable roles, which include Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and its sequel Ghostbusters II, Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, Working Girl, Death and the Maiden, The Ice Storm, Galaxy Quest, Snow Cake, Prayers for Bobby and Grace Augustine in Avatar and its prequel video game.

Weaver has been nominated for three Academy Awards, three BAFTA Awards (one win), two Emmy Awards, six Saturn Awards (two wins) and six Golden Globe Awards, winning two in 1988 for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, becoming the first person ever to have won two acting Golden Globe Awards in the same year. She was also nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award.

Weaver's 1986 Academy Award nomination for Aliens is considered as a landmark in the recognition of science fiction, action, and horror genres, as well as a major step in challenging the gender role in cinema. Weaver progressively received notoriety for her numerous contributions to the science fiction film history (including minor roles in successful works such as Futurama, WALL-E and Paul) and gained the nickname of "The Sci-Fi Queen".

Personal life[]

Weaver was engaged to reporter Aaron Latham in 1967. She has been married to the filmmaker Jim Simpson since October 1, 1984. They are the parents of one daughter, Charlotte Simpson, who was born on April 13, 1990.

After making Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey, she became a supporter of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is now the DFGFI's honorary chairperson. Weaver is an environmentalist. In October 2006, she drew international attention through a news conference at the start of a United Nations General Assembly policy deliberation. She outlined the widespread threat to ocean habitats posed by deep-sea trawling, an industrial method for harvesting fish. On April 8, 2008, she hosted the annual gala of the Trickle Up Program, a non-profit organization focusing on those in extreme poverty, mainly women and the disabled, in the Rainbow Room.

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