Sigourney Weaver - Biography

Last Editor: bnaramir				Sigourney Weaver Biography -   Name : Sigourney Weaver Birth Name : Susan Alexandra Weaver Date of Birth : 8 October 1949 Place of Birth : New York, New York, USA Height : 5' 11˝'' Education : The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT; Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut (majored in Drama; M.F.A.); Stanford University, Nationality : American Profession : Actor Claim to Fame : as Warrant Officer Lieutenant Ellen L. Ripley in Alien (1979)

Sigourney Weaver Trivia -

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. Daughter of NBC-TV executive Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. ("Pat" Weaver) and actress Elizabeth Inglis. Niece of 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, born 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 Frodo 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. 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.

Sigourney Weaver Detailed 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 Weaver 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 Weaver'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. That same year, her family moved to San Francisco briefly, an unpleasant experience for Weaver. Later, they moved to Connecticut, where she became a student in the Ethel Walker School, facing the same problems. 0n 1963, Susan changed her name to 'Sigourney', after a character called 'Sigourney Howard', in Fitzgerald's 'The Great Gatsby'. Her own birthname, Susan, was in honour of her mother's best friend name, explorer Susan Pretzlik. Sigourney had already starred in a school drama production, 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. In 1965, Sigourney Weaver worked during summer with a stock troupe, being cast in the plays 'A Streetcar Named Desire' and 'You Can't Take It With You', though she didn't star in the latter, because she was taller than the lead actor! After graduating from school in 1967, she spent some months in a kibbutz at Israel. At the same time, she became engaged to reporter Aaron Latham, but they soon broke up. In 1969, Sigourney became a student of English Literature in Stanford University. She also participated in school plays, especially Japanese Noh plays. By that time, she was living in a treehouse, alongside a male friend, dressed in elf-like clothes! After completing her studies in 1971, she applied for Yale School of Drama, in New York. Despite appearing at the audition reading a Brecht speech and wearing a rope-like belt, she was eventually accepted. But her professors rejected her, because of her height, and kept typecasting her as prostitutes and old women, whereas classmate Meryl Streep was treated almost reverently. However, in 1973, whilst launching her theatrical debut with 'Watergate Classics', Sigourney Weaver met up with a team of brilliant playwrights and actors and began hanging around with them. She befriended Christopher Durang, but also Kate McGregor-Stewart and Albert Innaurato. On 1974 she starred in various plays, including Aristophanes' 'Frogs' and Durang's 'The Nature and Purpose of the Universe' and 'Daryl and Carol and Kenny and Jenny', as Jenny. After finishing her studies that very year, she started chasing roles, but her height kept being a hindrance. However, she continued working on stage with Durang, as in 'Titanic'(1975) and Innaurato, and in 'Gemini' (1976). Other 70s stage works of hers include 'Marco Polo Sing a Song', 'The Animal Kingdom', 'A Flea in Her Ear’,’ The Constant Husband’,’ The Conquering Event' and others. But the one that probably took her off was 'Das Lusitania Songspiel', a play she co-wrote with Durang and in which she starred for two seasons, from 1979 to 1981. Sigourney Weaver was also up for a Drama Desk Award for it. During the mid-seventies, Sigourney Weaver 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 The Year of Living Dangerously (1982). The latter was a great Australian success that even won an Oscar and brought Sigourney Weaver 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 Weaver 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, 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 _Alien3 (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, Sigourney Weaver 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), The Ice Storm (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 A Map of the World (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). Sigourney Weaver's father died recently, at the age of 93. Sigourney herself, has already starred in Tadpole (2002) and is planning a cinematic version of _Guys, The (2003)_ , the enthralling 11-September one-act drama she played on stage on late 2001. She remains a remarkable and enormously talented actress, as well as a true beauty, even at the age of 52.