AKA Susan Alexandra Weaver

Born: 8-Oct-1949
Birthplace: Manhattan, NY [1]

Gender: Female
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Alien

Born Susan Alexandra Weaver, she showed an early interest in literature, reading Moby Dick and other classics in grade school. She found the name 'Sigourney' in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, and adopted it as her "stage name" at adolescence. At 16, she joined a summer stock troupe in Southbury, Connecticut. She later majored in English at Stanford, and got a second degree in drama at Yale. Weaver appeared in several off-Broadway plays, and understudied for a supporting role in a Broadway production of W. Somerset Maugham's The Constant Wife. She had a small role on Somerset, a daytime soap opera, but to most people, Sigourney Weaver was a complete unknown when she starred in Alien. That was part of what made Alien so effective.

Several other names in the cast were very familiar to audiences in 1979: Tom Skerritt, Ian Holm, and Yaphet Kotto were bona fide movie stars, and John Hurt, Harry Dean Stanton, and Veronica Cartwright were recognizable character actors. Ticket-buyers logically assumed that Skerritt or Holm would turn out to be the movie's hero, but instead they were quickly eliminated. Alien offered many other clever twists, but this nifty casting trick -- killing the stars, one by one -- kept audiences unsure what to expect, and helped make the movie a hit.

Weaver has since appeared in several Alien sequels, taken supporting roles in comedies Ghostbusters, Working Girl, Dave, and Galaxy Quest, and made smaller, more thoughtful films like Eyewitness, The Year of Living Dangerously, Gorillas in the Mist, and The Ice Storm. She has been nominated for an Oscar three times.

Sigourney Weaver's mother was a successful movie actress before marrying. Her father, Pat Weaver, was a high-level executive at NBC, and served as the peacock network's president for several years in the 1950s. He is generally credited as the creator of Today and The Tonight Show.

    High School: Ethel Walker School, Simsbury, CT (1967)
    University: BA English, Stanford University (1971)
    University: BFA Drama, Yale University (1974)

    Afghanistan World Foundation Celebrity Committee
    Human Rights First Board of Directors
    Endorsement of DirecTV (2007)
    Risk Factors: Smoking

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) (21-May-2017)
    The Beatles: Eight Days a Week: The Touring Years (15-Sep-2016) · Herself
    A Monster Calls (9-Sep-2016)
    Ghostbusters (9-Jul-2016)
    Finding Dory (8-Jun-2016) [VOICE]
    Chappie (4-Mar-2015)
    Exodus: Gods and Kings (3-Dec-2014)
    Vamps (25-Aug-2012) · Cisserus
    The Cold Light of Day (4-Apr-2012)
    Red Lights (20-Jan-2012)
    The Cabin in the Woods (10-Dec-2011)
    Abduction (22-Sep-2011)
    Rampart (10-Sep-2011) · Joan Confrey
    Paul (14-Feb-2011) · The Big Guy
    Cedar Rapids (11-Feb-2011) · Macy Vanderhei
    You Again (24-Sep-2010) · Ramona
    Crazy on the Outside (8-Jan-2010) · Viki
    Avatar (10-Dec-2009) · Grace
    Prayers for Bobby (21-Jan-2009)
    The Tale of Despereaux (19-Dec-2008) · Narrator [VOICE]
    Wall-E (27-Jun-2008) [VOICE]
    Baby Mama (23-Apr-2008)
    Vantage Point (20-Feb-2008)
    Be Kind Rewind (20-Jan-2008)
    The Girl in the Park (9-Sep-2007)
    Happily N'Ever After (5-Jan-2007) [VOICE]
    Infamous (31-Aug-2006)
    The TV Set (28-Apr-2006)
    Planet Earth (27-Feb-2006)
    Snow Cake (9-Feb-2006)
    Imaginary Heroes (14-Sep-2004) · Sandy Travis
    The Village (26-Jul-2004)
    Holes (11-Apr-2003) · The Warden
    The Guys (11-Sep-2002)
    Tadpole (11-Jan-2002) · Eve Grubman
    Big Bad Love (12-May-2001) · Voice of Betti DeLoreo [VOICE]
    Heartbreakers (23-Mar-2001)
    Company Man (3-May-2000)
    Galaxy Quest (23-Dec-1999) · Gwen DeMarco
    A Map of the World (13-Sep-1999)
    Alien: Resurrection (6-Nov-1997) · Ripley
    Snow White: A Tale of Terror (18-Jul-1997) · Claudia Hoffman
    The Ice Storm (12-May-1997)
    Copycat (27-Oct-1995)
    Jeffrey (4-Aug-1995)
    Death and the Maiden (23-Dec-1994)
    Dave (7-May-1993)
    1492: Conquest of Paradise (9-Oct-1992) · Queen Isabel
    Alien 3 (22-May-1992) · Ripley
    Ghostbusters II (16-Jun-1989) · Dana Barrett
    Working Girl (21-Dec-1988) · Katharine Parker
    Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (23-Sep-1988)
    Half Moon Street (13-Aug-1986)
    Aliens (18-Jul-1986) · Ripley
    One Woman or Two (6-Nov-1985)
    Ghostbusters (8-Jun-1984) · Dana Barrett
    Deal of the Century (4-Nov-1983) · Mrs. DeVoto
    The Year of Living Dangerously (17-Dec-1982) · Jill Bryant
    Eyewitness (26-Aug-1981) · Tony Sokolow
    Alien (25-May-1979) · Ripley
    Madman (1978)
    Annie Hall (20-Apr-1977) · Alvy's Date Outside Theatre

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