Sigourney Weaver
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| Sigourney Weaver | |
 Sigourney Weaver with her father Pat Weaver in 1989 (photo by Alan Light) |
|
| Birth name | Susan Alexandra Weaver |
| Born | October 8, 1949 (age 57) Manhattan, New York City |
| Notable roles | Ellen Ripley in Alien and its sequels
Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters and its sequel. |
| Academy Awards | |
|---|---|
| Nominated for Best Actress in a leading role; 1988 Academy Awards; ('Gorillas in the Mist').[2] | |
Sigourney Weaver (born Susan Alexandra Weaver on October 8, 1949 in New York City) is an Oscar-nominated American actress.
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[edit] Early life
Weaver is the daughter of the late NBC television executive Pat Weaver and Desirée Hawkins Ingles, a British actress. Her uncle was comedian and actor Doodles Weaver.
She began using the name Sigourney Weaver in 1963, after a character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. She attended the prestigious prep school, the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut and later studied English at Stanford University, then drama at Yale School of Drama where she appeared in original plays by friend and classmate Christopher Durang.
[edit] Film career
Although Weaver has played a number of critically acclaimed roles in movies like Gorillas in the Mist, The Ice Storm, Dave, and The Year of Living Dangerously, she is best known for her appearances as Warrant Officer/Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the blockbuster "Alien" movie franchise. Her first appearance as Ripley was in Ridley Scott's 1979 film Alien. She then reprised the role in all three sequels: Aliens, Alien³, and Alien: Resurrection. She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying Ripley in Aliens.
She also appeared in Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, as Dana Barrett. She played the role of the agoraphobic criminal psychologist Helen Hudson in the 1995 movie Copycat, and went on to become the most highly paid actress of the 1990s. In addition to her trademark role as Ripley, Weaver has recently concentrated on smaller, more challenging roles such as 1999's A Map of the World and 2006's Snowcake. Critics have also noted her consistent performances in comedic roles, such as in Jeffrey (1994) and Heartbreakers (2001), in which she starred with Jennifer Love Hewitt.
In 2003, Weaver was voted 20th in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time. She was one of only two women in the top 20 (the other was Audrey Hepburn).
Bryan Singer had originally wanted Weaver to play the lead villainess role of Emma Frost in X-Men: The Last Stand. But after Singer left the project to direct Superman Returns, the story changed considerably and the part of Emma Frost was dropped entirely from the script.[citation needed]
[edit] Dual nominations
In addition to her Academy Award nomination for Aliens, Weaver has received two other nominations in her career. Both occurred in 1988; This makes Weaver one of only ten actors and actresses to have received two nominations in the same year. Weaver received a Best Actress nomination for her role as gorilla conservationist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist and a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role as Katharine Parker in Working Girl opposite Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffith. She did not win either one; however, she won a Golden Globe award for each role.
[edit] Personal life
Weaver married theater director Jim Simpson (of The Flea Theater) in 1984, and they have one child, Charlotte Simpson (born 1990).
After making the movie Gorillas in the Mist, she became a supporter of The Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and is now the DFGFI's honorary chairperson.[3]
Weaver is a committed environmentalist. [4] In October 2006 she drew international attention through a news conference at the start of a United Nations General Assembly policy deliberation. The topic was the widespread threat to ocean habitats posed by deep-sea trawling, an industrial method for harvesting fish. [5] [6]
Weaver is notable for her high stature, standing 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) tall.
[edit] Popular culture
The Italian science-fiction comics lesbian character Legs Weaver is inspired to Sigourney Weaver's role in Alien.
[edit] Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Annie Hall | Alvy's Date Outside Theater | |
| 1979 | Alien | Ellen Ripley | |
| 1981 | Eyewitness | Tony Sokolow | |
| 1982 | The Year of Living Dangerously | Jilly Bryant | |
| 1984 | Ghostbusters | Dana Barrett | |
| 1985 | Une femme ou deux | Jessica Fitzgerald | |
| 1986 | Half Moon Street | Dr. Lauren Slaughter | |
| Aliens | Ellen Ripley | ||
| 1988 | Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey | Dian Fossey | |
| Working Girl | Katharine Parker | ||
| 1989 | Ghostbusters II | Dana Barrett | |
| 1992 | Alien³ | Ellen Ripley | |
| 1492: Conquest of Paradise | Queen Isabella | ||
| 1993 | Dave | Ellen Mitchell | |
| 1995 | Copycat | Helen Hudson | |
| Jeffrey | Debra Moorhouse | ||
| 1994 | Death and the Maiden | Paulina Escobar | |
| 1997 | The Ice Storm | Janey Carver | |
| Snow White: A Tale of Terror | Claudia Hoffman | ||
| Alien: Resurrection | Ellen Ripley clone | ||
| 1999 | A Map of the World | Alice Goodwin | |
| Galaxy Quest | Gwen DeMarco/Lieutenant Tawny Madison | ||
| 2001 | Heartbreakers | Max Conners/Angela | |
| 2002 | Tadpole | Eve Grubman | |
| 2003 | Holes | Warden Walker | |
| 2004 | Imaginary Heroes | Sandy Travis | |
| The Village | Alice Hunt | ||
| 2006 | |||
| Snowcake | Linda Freeman | ||
| The TV Set | Lenny | ||
| Infamous | Babe Paley | ||
| 2007 | |||
| Happily N'Ever After | Rieda | voice | |
| Vantage Point | Rex | Post-production | |
| The Girl In The Park | Julia Sandburg | Filming | |
| 2008 | |||
| Gypsy and Me | Gypsy Rose Lee | TV; In production; executive producer | |
| The Tale of Despereaux | The narrator | In production; voice only | |
| 2009 | Avatar | Grace | Filming |
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sally Kirkland for Anna |
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama 1989 for Gorillas in the Mist |
Succeeded by Michelle Pfeiffer for The Fabulous Baker Boys |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Movie Database. URL last accessed 9 September 2006.
- ^ Sigourney Weaver awards at the IMDb.com. URL last accessed 9 September 2006.
- ^ http://www.gorillafund.org/dian_fossey/
- ^ http://chge.med.harvard.edu/events/#NYC_Dinner
- ^ http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/N03201755.htm
- ^ http://www.planetark.org/dailynewsstory.cfm?newsid=38361&newsdate=04-Oct-2006
[edit] External links
- Sigourney Weaver at the Internet Movie Database
- Sigourney Weaver at the Notable Names Database
- AskMen.com information
- BBC News article on Sigourney Weaver
Categories: Articles with unsourced statements since February 2007 | All articles with unsourced statements | 1949 births | American film actors | Best Drama Actress Golden Globe (film) | English Americans | Hollywood Walk of Fame | Living people | People from Manhattan | People from New York City | Stanford University alumni | Yale University alumni
