Sigourney Weaver

Biography

Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. A figure in science fiction and popular culture, she has received various accolades, including a British Academy Film Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and a Grammy Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Tony Award. In 2003, she was voted Number 20 in Channel 4's countdown of the 100 greatest movie stars of all time.

Weaver rose to fame for starring as Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's science fiction film Alien (1979). She reprised her role in James Cameron's Aliens (1986), for which she received her first Academy Award nomination, and again in Alien 3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997). 

The character is regarded as a significant female protagonist in cinema history. She reunited with Cameron in Avatar (2009) and Avatar: The Way of Water (2022), two of the highest-grossing films of all time. She also played Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters films starting in 1984.

On Broadway, she received a Tony Award nomination for her role in the play Hurlyburly (1984). Further acclaim came for playing primatologist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist (1988), for which she won a Golden Globe Award, and in the same year, won another Golden Globe Award for her performance in Working Girl. 

Weaver was the first actor to have two acting wins at the Golden Globes in the same year and also received Academy Award nominations for both films. She won the BAFTA Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Ice Storm (1997). Her other notable films include Copycat (1995), Galaxy Quest (1999), The Village (2004), Vantage Point (2008), Chappie (2015), and A Monster Calls (2016).

Weaver has also performed voice roles in the animated films The Tale of Despereaux (2008) and Pixar films WALL-E (2008) and Finding Dory (2016) as well as several documentaries, such as the BBC series Planet Earth (2006) and The Beatles: Eight Days a Week (2016). 

In television, she has received Primetime Emmy Award nominations for her starring roles in the movies Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1998), Prayers for Bobby (2009), and Political Animals (2013). She won the Grammy Award for Best Spoken Word Album for narrating the humor book Earth (The Book) (2010).