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| Birth Name(s) : Susan Alexandra Weaver |
Date of Birth: October 8, 1949 |
| Status:
Married
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Partner:
Jim Simpson |
| Profession:
Actor |
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Full Sigourney Weaver Biography
Sigourney Weaver was born as Susan Alexandra Weaver, on 8 October 1949, in Leroy Hospital of New York City. Her father, TV producer Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. originally wanted to name her Flavia, because of his passion for Roman history. He had already named her elder brother, Trajan. Her mother, Elizabeth Inglis was a British actress who had sacrificed her career over a happy family. Sigourney grew up in a virtual bubble of guiltless bliss, being taken care by nannies and maids. Up until 1959, the Weavers resided in thirty different households. On 1961, Sigourney started attending the Brearly Girls Academy, but her mother moved her in another New York private school, Chapin. Sigourney's extreme height made her classmates constantly laughing at her and in order to gain their sympathy, she accepted the role of class clown. However, her degrees were remarkable. By the age of 13, in 1962, Sigourney was already a 5 feet 10 inches girl.
During the mid-seventies, she appeared in several TV spots and even starred as Avis Ryan in 1976 soap opera _"Madman" (1978)_ . In 1977, she was cast in the role Shelley Duvall finally played in Annie Hall (1977), after rejecting the part due to prior stage commitments. But in the end, Woody Allen still offered her a six-seconds part. Then followed Madman (1978) and of course, Alien (1979). The role of the tough, uncompromising Ripley made her an overnight star and even brought her a British Award Nomination. Later, she played in Eyewitness (1981) and Year of Living Dangerously, The (1982). The latter was a great Australian success that even won an Oscar and brought Sigourney and co-star Mel Gibson to Cannes '83. The same year, Weaver delivered an honorary EMMY award to her father, a few months before her uncle, actor Doodles Weaver, committed suicide. That year's fall, Sigourney started having a romance with Jim Simpson. Sigourney had broken up two years before with James M. McClure and needed someone close to her. In the end, they got married on 1 October 1984. Sigourney had meanwhile, played in Deal of the Century (1983) and the great hit _Ghostbusters (1984)_ . She was also nominated for a Tony Award for her tour de force in theatrical 'Hurly Burly'. Then followed _Une Femme ou deux (1985)_ , Half Moon Street (1986) and Aliens (1986). The latter was a massive success, with her being nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She was also named 'Star of the Year'. Sigourney entered her most productive career and literally took off after snatching Academy Award nominations, in both Leading and Supporting Actress category, for her intense portrayal of Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) and for her bitchy performance in _Working Girl (1988)_. She ended up losing in both, but was compensated by winning both Golden Globes.
After posing as herself in a documentary about Helmut Newton (I), entitled Frames from the Edge (1989) and appearing in Ghostbusters II (1989), she discovered she was pregnant and retired from public life for a while. She gave birth to Charlotte Simpson, on 13 April 1990. Sigourney Weaver returned to movies as a now skinhead Ripley in Alien� (1992) and a gorgeous Queen Isabel in 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), her second work with director Ridley Scott, after the original famed Alien movie. She rolled on to comedy Dave (1993), alongside Kevin Kline, and a Roman Polanski thriller, Death and the Maiden (1994).
In 1995, she could be seen in Jeffrey (1995) and Copycat (1995). In 1996 she starred in 'Sex and Longing', yet another Durang play. Sigourney hadn't acted in theater for ages before that play, as she had abandoned it after a successful run in the 80s, with the plays 'As You Like It' (1981), 'Beyond Therapy' (1981), 'The Marriage of 'Bette and Boo' (1985) and 'The Merchant of Venice' (1986). In 1997, she was the protagonist in Grimm's Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), Ice Storm, The (1997) and _Alien Resurrection (1997)_ .
Her performance in The Ice Storm achieved a BAFTA prize and another Golden Globe nod. She also offered excellent performances in Map of the World, A (1999) and the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999). Her next comedy, Company Man (2000), wasn't equally welcomed, however. Sigourney played a sexy con in Heartbreakers (2001) and had a voice role in Big Bad Love (2001). |
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Additional Sigourney Weaver Biography
Sigourney Weaver (born Susan Alexandra Weaver on October 8, 1949 in New York City) is an Oscar-nominated American actress.
Weaver is the daughter of late NBC television executive Pat Weaver (d. 2002) and Elizabeth Inglis, a former British actress (d. 2007). Her uncle, Doodles Weaver, was a comedian and actor.
She began using the name Sigourney Weaver in 1963, aged 14, after a character in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
She attended the Ethel Walker School, a prep school in Simsbury, Connecticut and graduated from Stanford University. She studied law at Harvard Law School, then drama at Yale School of Drama, where she appeared in original plays by friend and classmate Christopher Durang. She later appeared in the 1981 off-Broadway production of his comedy Beyond Therapy.
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 reprised the role in three sequels, Aliens, Alien³, and Alien: Resurrection. She was nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for portraying Ripley in Aliens. Ripley was a breakthrough role: the first female action hero. Although Ripley is tender and nurturing with a cat or a child, she is tough and aggressive with adult humans and alien monsters, and ruthless enough to blow up her own ship or a planetary colony; in the third film, she destroys herself to prevent the xenomorph species from spreading.
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 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.
In addition to her Academy Award nomination for Aliens, Weaver has received two other nominations in her career, both 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 nomination, but was awarded a Golden Globe for each role. By failing to win an Oscar in either category for 1988, she became the first person in history to lose twice in the same ceremony. Only two people have been "double losers" since then - Emma Thompson in 1994 and Julianne Moore in 2003.
Weaver married theater director Jim Simpson (The Flea Theater) in 1984. They have one child, Charlotte Simpson (born 13 April 1990).
After making Gorillas in the Mist, 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. She also narrated the Discovery Channel show Planet Earth, which focuses on the wonders of our world.
The Italian lesbian science-fiction comics character Legs Weaver is inspired by Sigourney Weaver's role in Alien.
In 2007, Weaver reprised her role of Ellen Ripley in a commercial for DirecTV. In the commercial, Weaver, in the power loader vehicle from the movie Aliens, is battling the queen xenomorph while explaining to watchers how DirecTV is a better deal than cable. |
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Sigourney Weaver Quote(s)
| I'd rather have a small part in a movie I love than a bigger part in one I don't care about. |
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