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Sigourney Weaver
I was delighted to meet Hollywood actress Sigourney Weaver at the London Film and Comic Convention held at London's Olympia in July 2015. She signed my masterprint of Alien3 and I had this super photograph taken with her.
Susan Alexandra Weaver was born in New York in 1949. Her mother was the English actress Elizabeth Inglis and her father, Sylvester Weaver, was the former president of the National
Sigourney went to a private high school in Connecticut, and later became a student at California's Stanford University. It was there she realised that she wanted to become an actress. She graduated from Stanford with a B.A degree in literature in 1971, and moved to Connecticut to take up a three-year course at Yale Drama School.
National Broadcasting Company (NBC). She began using the name Sigourney when she was fourteen years old after reading F. Scott Fitzgerald’s book The Great Gatsby.
Sigourney’s early professional acting roles were on the stage, in a number of off-Broadway shows. She also landed therole
Sigourney Weaver aged 18
the role of Avis Ryan on the short-lived soap Somerset (1976).
Sigourney as Avis Ryan in Somerset
It was in 1979 however, that Sigourney had her big break as the tough Ellen Ripley in theOscar
the Oscar-winning megahit Alien. This science fiction horror film, directed by Ridley Scott, led to a media franchise of novels, toys, comic books and games. It shot her to stardom and opened the way for a whole range of other film work to choose from.
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Alien
choose from.
In the next decade she starred in a number of popular and critically-acclaimed films which included
Sigourney Weaver & Rick Moralis in Ghostbusters
Sigourney Weaver in Eyewitness
As Dana Barrett in Ghostbusters
included Eyewitness (1981) with William Hurt & Christopher Plummer; The Year of Living Dangerously (1982) with Mel Gibson, and the very popular comedy Ghostbusters (1984) in which she played Dana Barrett, a single woman living in a haunted apartment.
With Mel Gibson in The Year of Living Dangerously
Sigourney Weaver reprised her role as Ellen Ripley for the first Alien sequel Aliens (1986) for which she received an Oscar nomination for best actress. In this film, child actress Carrie Henn plays Rebecca Jorden, nicknamed 'Newt'. Despite her lack of acting experience, Carrie got second billing to Sigourney Weaver in the film.
(left) Sigourney in the early 1970s
(above) Sigourney Weaver in Alien
My Aliens print signed by Carrie Henn, Daniel Kash
I met Carrie Henn in July 2011
Sigourney Weaver as Ripley & Carrie Henn as Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden in Aliens
Carrie Henn as Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden in Aliens
Michael Biehn, Jenette Goldstein & Ricco Ross
Two years later, Weaver received two further best actress Oscar nominations. The first of these, in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), was for her portrayal of Dian Fossey, a scientist who came to Africa to study the vanishing
the vanishing mountain gorillas, and who later fought and died to protect them. The second was in the best supporting actress category for her role as Katharine Parker in the comedy Working Girl (1988), alongside Harrison Ford & Melanie Griffith.
Sigourney Weaver’s busy life continued throughout the 1990s, with eleven more full-length films to her name. There were two Alien sequels in which she again played Ellen Ripley - Alien 3 (1992)and
Sigourney Weaver in
Gorillas in the Mist
Sigourney Weaver in Working Girl
Sigourney Weaver as Ellen Ripley in Alien 3
(1992) and also Alien Resurrection (1997).She had a lighter role as Ellen Mitchell in the romantic comedy hit Dave (1993) alongside Kevin Kline and, four years later, they teamed up again for the drama The Ice Storm (1997). Sigourney later teamed up with Alan Rickman & Tim Allen for the sci-fi comedy Galaxy Quest (1999).
Since 2000, Sigourney Weaver hasmadeover
Sigourney Weaver & Sam Rockwell
in Galaxy Quest
Sigourney Weaver as Janey Carver
in The Ice Storm
Sigourney Weaver & Kevin Kline
in The Ice Storm
Bill Murray & Sigourney Weaver
in Ghostbusters 2
Sigourney Weaver & Michael Caine in Half Moon Street
Sigourney Weaver as Paulina Escobar
in Death and the Maiden
has made over twenty more films ranging from crime dramas like Infamous (2006) and Vantage Point
Vantage Point (2008) to romances like Snow Cake (2006), and mystery thrillers like The Village (2004). In 2009, she starredin
starred in James Cameron’s award-winnning epic fantasy adventure Avatar (2009) in which she played a scientist Dr Grace Augustine. The big-budget Avatar won three Oscars,andhas
Weaver as Linda in Snow Cake
Sigourney Weaver as Alice Hunt
Oscars, and has taken a record-breaking£1
breaking £1.6 billion at the box office worldwide. In 2009, she starred in
in The Village
starred in James Cameron’s award-winnning epic fantasy adventure Avatar (2009) in which she played a scientist Dr Grace Augustine. The big-budget Avatar won three Oscars, and has taken a record-breaking £1.6 billion at the box office worldwide. Sigourney Weaver will play a different character in the sequels Avatar 2 (2017), Avatar 3 (2018) and Avatar 4 (2019). James Cameron says, “Sigourney
says, “Sigourney and I have a long creative history, dating back to 1985 when we made Aliens. We’re goodfriends
good friends who’ve always worked well together, so it just feels right that she’s coming back for the Avatar sequels. Her character of Grace Augustine
Augustine, as fans know, died in the first movie, so she’s playing a different, and in many ways more challenging, character in the upcoming films.”
2 faces of Sigourney Weaver as Grace Augustine
With Sam Worthington in Avatar
in the Oscar-winning film Avatar
2 faces of Sigourney Weaver in
Snow White: A Tale of Terror
Sigourney Weaver as Michelle Bradley in Chappie
Her recent roles since Avatar include Joan Confrey in Rampart (2011); Elaine Barrish in Political Animals (2012); Cisserus in Vamps(2012)
Sigourney Weaver as Joan Confrey in Rampart
Vamps (2012); Tuya in Exodus: God and Kings (2014) and Michelle Bradley in Chappie (2015).
Throughout her long film career, Sigourney Weaver has maintained a close connection to the stage, and starring in variety of theatrical performances. A recent success came with the role of Macha in the 2013 production of Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike at the John Golden Theatre in New York.
Billy Magnussen & Weaver in Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Sigourney Weaver in
Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Sigourney Weaver is married to filmmaker Jim Simpson. They have one child, a daughter, Charlotte, who was born on April 13, 1990. The family lives in New York City.