Susan Alexandra Weaver, known professionally as Sigourney Weaver, is an American actress and film producer. Following her film debut as a minor character in Annie Hall (1977), she quickly came to prominence in 1979 with her first lead role as Ellen Ripley in Alien.
Background
Weaver was born Susan Alexandra Weaver 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 and television pioneer Sylvester "Pat" Weaver (1908–2002).
Education
Weaver attended the Ethel Walker School, a girls' preparatory school in Simsbury, Connecticut. She also attended The Chapin School and The Brearley School. Sigourney was reportedly 5' 10½" (179 cm) tall by the age of 14, although she only grew another inch during her teens to her adult height of 5' 11½" (182 cm). In 1967, at the age of 18, Weaver visited Israel and volunteered on a kibbutz for several months.
Weaver attended Sarah Lawrence College. In 1972 she graduated with a B.A. in English from Stanford University, where she first began 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 musical version of The Frogs, and another was as one of a mob of Roman soldiers alongside Meryl Streep 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.
Career
Over the next several years, Sigourney Weaver found steady work in a host of off-Broadway shows. She also landed a role on the short-lived soap, Somerset, and earned a small part as Woody Allen's movie date in the now-classic film Annie Hall (1977).
But it was her performance as the tough Ripley in the 1979 megahit Alien that catapulted Weaver to stardom and offered her a lineup of other film work to choose from. Over the next decade she starred in a host of well-received films, including The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) with Mel Gibson and the wildly popular comedy Ghost Busters (1984).
In 1986, Weaver reprised her Ripley role for the Alien sequel, Aliens, which garnered the star an Academy Award nomination for best actress. Two years later, Weaver garnered two more Oscar nominations—in the best actress category for her performance in Gorillas in the Mist, and in the best supporting actress category for her portrayal of Katharine Parker in the film Working Girl (both released in 1988).
Weaver's busy workload continued throughout the 1990s. She reunited with castmates of the Alien series to play Ripley in Aliens 3 (1992), resurrecting the role yet again for Alien Resurrection (1997). In 1993, she took on a lighter role as a faux U.S. first lady in the playful hit Dave, also starring Kevin Kline. The pair teamed up again in 1997 for the indie drama The Ice Storm, a moody portrait of family and suburban life set in the 1970s. Additionally, in 1996, Weaver made a return to Broadway in Sex and Lounging.
In recent years, Weaver has continued to demonstrate her range as an actress and her willingness to seek out interesting projects. In 2004, she co-starred in the M. Night Shyamalan release The Village. Two years later, she was the face of a pair of indie releases: The TV Set and Snow Cake. In 2009, she paired up with Aliens director James Cameron for the big budget hit Avatar. In addition to her steady film work, Weaver has maintained a close connection to the stage, starring in variety of theatrical performances.
(Buy Alien: Read 124 Movies & TV Reviews - Amazon.com)
Connections
Sigourney Weaver is married to filmmaker Jim Simpson. They have one child together: a daughter, Charlotte, who was born on April 13, 1990. Weaver lives with her family in New York City.