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Sigourney Weaver Profile |
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Birth Date: October 8, 1949
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Birth Place: New York, New York, USA
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Birth Name: Susan Alexandra Weaver
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Height: 6'0"
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Biography |
Sigourney Weaver was born on the 8th of October in
1949 and raised in New York City, where she went to high
school with Meryl Streep. She and her brother Trajan were
born into a minor showbiz royalty; her father Sylvester
"Pat" Weaver was an ex-NBC president and his wife Elizabeth
Inglis was a former Hitchcockian actress.
When a young Susan, already with a flare for the dramatic,
read The Great Gatsby at the age fourteen, she fell in love
with one character's name and from then on wanted to be
known as "Sigourney."
Sigourney went on to receive a Bachelor's Degree in English
at Stanford University, and then with a hectic case of the
acting bug, went to Yale University's prestigious School of
Drama. The six-foot actress took on some parts on the stage
before landing the lead in the 1976 film, Madman and a bit
part in Woody Allen's Annie Hall (she portrayed Woody's date
at the end of the film).
However, in 1979, she landed the part that would launch her
career as a star; after only one audition, she landed the
role of Lt. Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's groundbreaking
Alien (the role that she would of course revisit after
earning an Academy Award nomination in James Cameron's
classic 1986 flick Aliens, as she did in the two horrible
sequels).
She went on to land such roles as 1981's Eyewitness with
William Hurt and The Year of Living Dangerously with Mel
Gibson. In 1984, she married her husband Jim Simpson and
co-starred in the comic sci-fi masterpiece Ghostbusters,
opposite Bill Murray, which proved to be a blockbuster and
officially gave Sigourney the title of superstar.
After gathering her first Oscar nomination for Aliens in
1986, she earned two nominations in 1988 for Best Supporting
Actress in Working Girl and Best Actress in Gorillas in the
Mist; she never brought home Oscar, she did have two Golden
Globes to add to her mantle.
Although she hasn't received any Oscar nominations since,
she has remained a force in Hollywood, which was proved with
successful films like 1993's Dave, 1999's campy comedy,
Galaxy Quest, and 2001's Heartbreakers, in which she held
her own despite co-star Jennifer Love Hewitt.
You can look for her in the 2002 feature film Tadpole and
2003's The Wedding Contract, which will re-team her with her
Ghostbusters co-star Bill Murray. |
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Other
Information |
Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in
film history (#81). [1995]
Attended the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT.
Her dad Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. ("Pat" Weaver), NBC-TV
president (1953- 55), pioneered the desk-and-couch talk show
format that still survives on two programs he created -
NBC's "Today" (1952) and "Tonight!" (1953) (aka "The Tonight
Show") shows.
Ranked #71 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie
Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997]
Changed her name after reading "The Great Gatsby".
Debuted in Woody Allen 's Annie Hall (1977), duration: 6
seconds.
Family: Daughter of NBC-TV executive Sylvester L. Weaver Jr.
("Pat" Weaver) and actress Elizabeth Inglis, older brother,
Trajan Weaver. Uncle, actor Doodles Weaver.
Afraid to travel in elevators.
#13 of Sci-Fi's Sexy 50, by Femme Fatales magazine. [1997]
Eye/hair color: brown
Speaks fluent French and German.
Graduated from Stanford University in 1972 with a bachelor's
degree in English.
Born at 6:15 PM EST
Has one daughter, Charlotte Simpson, was born on 13 April
1990.
She is one of the elite ten thespians to have been nominated
for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the
same year for their achievements in two different movies.
The other nine are Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry
Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the
same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Al Pacino,
'Emma Thompson' , Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie
Foxx.
Her salary for Alien: Resurrection (1997) was more than the
entire cost of the original Alien (1979) movie.
Measurements: 34B-24-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
Suffered nightmares for two weeks after reading the script
for The Village (2004).
Was nominated for Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Actress
(Featured Role - Play) for David Rabe's "Hurlyburly," but
lost to a co-star, Judith Ivey.
Has worked with three Bagginses. In Alien (1979) she works
with Ian Holm, who played Frodo in the BBC radio adaptation.
In The Ice Storm (1997) she works with Elijah Wood, who
played the part in the film. In Aliens (1986) the stunt
double for Newt was Kiran Shah, who was also Wood's scale
double.
Though they have never worked together she has co-starred
with nine actors who have also co-starred with Jamie Lee
Curtis: Ray Liotta, Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Kline, Tim Allen,
J.E. Freeman, Mel Gibson, Elijah Wood, Philip Bosco and Bill
Paxton. Both have co-starred with Michelle Williams. They
have also both worked with composer John Ottman and director
James Cameron.
Sister of older brother, Trajan Weaver.
In many of her roles her character has had to deal with
artificially intelligent spaceships. In the "Alien" movies,
she battles them. In Galaxy Quest (1999), much to her
character's chagrin, she repeated whatever the spaceship
said. In addition, on an episode of "Futurama" (1999), she
had the chance to voice a spaceship.
Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998
Attended the Yale School of Drama
Remains in contact with her former Aliens (1986) co-star
Carrie Henn.
In the film Alien: Resurrection (1997) Sigourney actually
managed to sink the basketball into the hoop backwards on
the first take, even though she wasn't supposed to or
intended to. The shot was almost ruined because Ron Perlman
broke character because he was so amazed.
Her performance as Ellen Ripley in Aliens (1986) is ranked
#58 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All
Time (2006).
Her performance as Ellen Ripley in the "Alien" quadrilogy is
ranked #8 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie
Characters of All Time.
Injured her knee during the shooting of Snow Cake (2006) and
has been forced to stop exercising for a year.
Friend of Selina Cadell.
Ranked #20 on E4's 100 Greatest Movie Stars. She was the
second highest female on the list behind #13 Audrey Hepburn. |
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