Biography
Though she is a classically trained dramatic actress and has played a variety of roles, Sigourney Weaver is still best known for her portrayal of the powerful and determined sci-fi heroine Ellen Ripley from the four Alien movies. The formidably beautiful, 5'11'' actress was born Susan Alexandra Weaver in New York City in 1949, to NBC president Pat Weaver and British actress Elizabeth Inglis. Her father had a passion for Roman history and originally wanted to name her Flavia; instead Susan was chosen in honour of her mother's best friend, explorer Susan Pretzlik. After reading F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby at the age of 14, Weaver changed her name to Sigourney, after one of the book's minor characters.
As a teenager, Sigourney's unusual height made her the target of jokes, and at school she took on the role of class clown in order to fit in. From New York the Weaver family moved briefly to San Franscisco in 1962, and later to Connecticut, where Sigourney attended the Ethel Walker School. She starred in school drama productions, and took summer work with a stock troupe. After graduating in 1967, she spent some months on a kibbutz in Israel, where she was briefly engaged to reporter Aaron Latham.
In 1969 Weaver enrolled at Stanford University, majoring in English Literature. She obtained her master's at the Yale School of Drama. After earning her degree, Weaver found difficulty in breaking in to mainstream theatre, with many producers regarding her as too tall. She made her way experimental plays produced well away from Broadway, and also appeared in a number of TV spots, gaining her TV break with the role of Avis Ryan in the soap opera Somerset (1976). She made her film debut with a bit part in Woody Allen's Annie Hall in 1977, and recieved her first major role in Madman which was released just prior to Alien in 1979.
Though the role of Ripley was originally designed for Veronica Cartwright (who ultimately played the doomed Lambert), scouts for director Ridley Scott saw Weaver working off-Broadway and felt she would be perfect for the part. Through this character, Weaver created a new kind of female action hero, which did much to challenge the gender stereotypes of the day: intelligent, resourceful, and unconsciously sexy, Weaver's Ripley was a woman with the guts to master her fear in order to take on a terrifying unknown enemy. Alien proved to be one of the year's biggest hits and put Weaver on Hollywood's A-list, though she would not reprise her character for another seven years. In between, she worked to prove her versatility, playing solid dramatic roles in Eyewitness (1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), while letting a more playful side show as a cellist who channels a fearsome demon in Ghostbusters (1984).
In 1986, Aliens burst into the theater. In this film, Weaver focused more on the maternal side of her character, yet still appeared tougher than ever. Her unforgettable performance was honored with a Best Actress Oscar nomination, and was followed up by a haunting portrayal of doomed naturalist/animal rights activist Diane Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988). The role won Weaver her second Best Actress Oscar nomination, and that same year, she received yet another Oscar nomination - this time for Best Supporting Actress - for her deliciously poisonous portrayal of Melanie Griffith's boss in Working Girl.
After 1992's Alien 3, Weaver had her next big hit playing President Kevin Kline's lonely wife in the bittersweet romantic comedy Dave (1993). She then gave a gripping performance as a rape/torture victim who faces down the man who may or may not have been her tormentor in Roman Polanski's moody thriller Death and the Maiden (1994), followed by an intense portrayal of an agoraphobic psychologist who takes on the case of a serial killer in Copycat (1995). During the latter half of the decade, Weaver appeared in Alien Resurrection, and increasingly surfaced in offbeat roles such as the coolly fragile Janey in Ang Lee's The Ice Storm and the psychotic, wicked Queen in the adult-oriented HBO production The Grimm Brothers' Snow White (all 1997). In 1999, she starred in the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest, making fun of her image as a sci-fi goddess while continuing to prove her remarkable versatility.
Weaver's first high-profile project of the new millenium saw her swindling Ray Liotta and Gene Hackman as a sexy con-woman teamed up with Jennifer Love Hewitt, in Heartbreakers. Already into her fifties, Weaver proved she still possessed plenty of sex-appeal even alongside a substantially younger starlet like Hewitt. She played up her sultry side some more in the well-received 2002 indie-comedy Tadpole, but changed gears a bit in 2003, playing a villain in the family sleeper hit Holes.
In 2004, Weaver could be seen as part of the ensemble cast in M. Night Shyamalan's summer thriller The Village, and starring in the comedy drama, Imaginary Heroes. Her place as one of Hollywood's most notable actresses seems assured, and she continues to take on new challenges, such as the role of a bereaved autistic mother in Snow Cake (2006). When not appearing in films, she continues to be active in theater. Recent theatrical projects have included The Guys, a play dealing with the immediate aftermath of 9/11, which was made into a film in 2002.
Weaver has been married to stage director Jim Simpson since 1984. They have one daughter, Charlotte, born in 1990.
Sources: Allmovie.com, Yahoo!, and IMDB)