Sigourney Weaver was born Susan Alexandra Weaver, on October 8, 1949, in Leroy Hospital in New York City. Her father, TV producer Sylvester L. Weaver Jr., originally wanted to name her Flavia, because of his passion for Roman history (he had already named her elder brother Trajan). Her mother, Elizabeth Inglis, was a British actress who had sacrificed her career for a family. Sigourney grew up in a virtual bubble of guiltless bliss, being taken care by nannies and maids. By 1959 the Weavers had resided in 30 different households. In 1961 Sigourney began attending the Brearly Girls Academy, but her mother moved her to another New York private school, Chapin. Sigourney was quite a bit taller than most of her other classmates (at the age of 13 she was already 5' 10"), resulting in her constantly being laughed at and picked on; in order to gain their acceptance, she took on the role of class clown. In 1962 her family moved to San Francisco briefly, an unpleasant experience for her. Later they moved back east to Connecticut, where she became a student at the Ethel Walker School, facing the same problems as before. In 1963 she changed her name to "Sigourney", after the character "Sigourney Howard" in F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby (her own birth name, Susan, was in honor of her mother's best friend, explorer Susan Pretzlik). Sigourney had already starred in a school drama production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream", and in 1965 she worked during the summer with a stock troupe, performing in "A Streetcar Named Desire" and "You Can't Take It With You" (she didn't star in the latter because she was taller than the lead actor!). After graduating from school in 1967 she spent some months in a kibbutz at Israel. At that time she became engaged to reporter Aaron Latham, but they soon broke up. In 1969 Sigourney enrolled in Stanford University, majoring in English Literature. She also participated in school plays, especially Japanese Noh plays. By that time she was living in a treehouse, alongside a male friend, dressed in elf-like clothes! After completing her studies in 1971, she applied for the Yale School of Drama in New York. Despite appearing at the audition reading a Bertolt Brecht speech and wearing a rope-like belt, she was accepted by the school but her professors rejected her, because of her height, and kept typecasting her as prostitutes and old women (whereas classmate Meryl Streep was treated almost reverently). However, in 1973, while making her theatrical debut with "Watergate Classics", she met up with a team of playwrights and actors and began hanging around with them., resulting in long-term friendships with Christopher Durang, Kate McGregor-Stewart and Albert Innaurato. In 1974 she starred in such plays as Aristophanes' "Frogs" and Durang's "The Nature and Purpose of the Universe" and "Daryl and Carol and Kenny and Jenny", as Jenny. After finishing her studies that year, she began seriously pursuing a stage career, but her height kept being a hindrance. However, she continued working on stage with Durang (in "Titanic" [1975]) and Innaurato (in "Gemini" [1976]). Other 1970s stage works included "Marco Polo Sing a Song", "The Animal Kingdom", "A Flea in Her Ear", "The Constant Husband", "Conjuring an Event" and others. However, the one that really got her noticed was "Das Lusitania Songspiel", a play she co-wrote with Durang and in which she starred for two seasons, from 1979 to 1981. She was also up for a Drama Desk Award for it. During the mid-70s she appeared in several TV spots and even starred as Avis Ryan in the soap opera "Somerset" (1970). In 1977 she was cast in the role Shelley Duvall finally played in Annie Hall (1977), after rejecting the part due to prior stage commitments. In the end, however, Woody Allen offered her a part in the film that, while short (she was onscreen for six seconds), made many people sit up and take notice. She later appeared in Madman (1978) and, of course, Alien (1979). The role of the tough, uncompromising Ripley made Sigourney an "overnight" star and brought her a British Award Nomination. She next appeared in Eyewitness (1981) and The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), the latter being a great success in Australia that won an Oscar and brought Sigourney and co-star Mel Gibson to Cannes in 1983. The same year she delivered an honorary Emmy award to her father, a few months before her uncle, actor Doodles Weaver, committed suicide. That year also brought her a romance with Jim Simpson, her first since having broken up two years previously with James M. McClure. She and Simpson were married on 1 October 1984. Sigourney had meanwhile played in the poorly received Deal of the Century (1983) and the mega-hit Ghost Busters (1984). She was also nominated for a Tony Award for her tour-de-force performance in the play "Hurly Burly". Then followed Une femme ou deux (1985), Half Moon Street (1986) and Aliens (1986). The latter was a huge success, and Sigourney was nominated for both a Golden Globe and an Oscar. She then entered her most productive career period and snatched Academy Award nominations, in both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress categories, for her intense portrayal of Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) and her delicious performance as a double-crossing, power-hungry corporate executive in Working Girl (1988). She ended up losing in both, but made up for it to a degree by winning both Golden Globes. After appearing in a documentary about fashion photographer Helmut Newton, Frames from the Edge (1989), and reprising her role in the sequel Ghostbusters II (1989), she discovered she was pregnant and retired from public life for a while. She gave birth to her daughter Charlotte on 13 April 1990, and returned to movies as a (now skinhead) Ripley in Alien³ (1992) and a gorgeous Queen Isabella of Spain in 1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992), her second film with director Ridley Scott. She starred in the political comedy Dave (1993) alongside Kevin Kline, and then a Roman Polanski thriller, Death and the Maiden (1994). In 1995 she was seen in Jeffrey (1995) and Copycat (1995). The next year she "trod the boards" in "Sex and Longing", yet another Durang play. She hadn't performed in the theater in many years before that play, her last stage performances occurring in the 1980s in "As You Like It" (1981), "Beyond Therapy" (1981), "The Marriage of 'Bette and Boo'" (1985) and "The Merchant of Venice" (1986). In 1997 she was the protagonist in Grimm's Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1997), The Ice Storm (1997) and Alien: Resurrection (1997). Her performance in "The Ice Storm" got her a BAFTA prize and another Golden Globe nod. She also gave excellent performances in A Map of the World (1999) and the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999). Her next comedy, Company Man (2000), wasn't quite so warmly welcomed critically and financially, however. She next played a sexy con artist in Heartbreakers (2001) and had a voice role in Big Bad Love (2001). Her father died at the age of 93. Sigourney herself has recently starred in Tadpole (2002) and is planning a cinematic version of The Guys (2002), the enthralling September 11th one-act drama she played on stage on late 2001. She remains a remarkable and enormously talented actress, and at the age of 52 is still one of the world's great beauties. Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#81). [1995] Attended the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, CT. Her dad Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. ("Pat" Weaver), NBC-TV president (1953- 55), pioneered the desk-and-couch talk show format that still survives on two programs he created - NBC's "Today" (1952) and "Tonight!" (1953) (aka "The Tonight Show") shows. Ranked #71 in Empire (UK) magazine's "The Top 100 Movie Stars of All Time" list. [October 1997] Changed her name after reading "The Great Gatsby". Debuted in Woody Allen 's Annie Hall (1977), duration: 6 seconds. Family: Daughter of NBC-TV executive Sylvester L. Weaver Jr. ("Pat" Weaver) and actress Elizabeth Inglis, older brother, Trajan Weaver. Uncle, actor Doodles Weaver. Afraid to travel in elevators. #13 of Sci-Fi's Sexy 50, by Femme Fatales magazine. [1997] Eye/hair color: brown Speaks fluent French and German. Graduated from Stanford University in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in English. Born at 6:15 PM EST Has one daughter, Charlotte Simpson, born 13 April 1990 She is one of the elite ten thespians to have been nominated for both a Supporting and Lead Acting Academy Award in the same year for their achievements in two different movies. The other nine are Fay Bainter, Teresa Wright, Barry Fitzgerald (he has been nominated in both categories for the same role in the same movie), Jessica Lange, Al Pacino, 'Emma Thompson' , Holly Hunter, Julianne Moore and Jamie Foxx. Her salary for Alien: Resurrection (1997) was more than the entire cost of the original Alien (1979) movie. Measurements: 34B-24-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Suffered nightmares for two weeks after reading the script for The Village (2004). Was nominated for Broadway's 1985 Tony Award as Best Actress (Featured Role - Play) for David Rabe's "Hurlyburly," but lost to a co-star, Judith Ivey. Has worked with three Bagginses. In Alien (1979) she works with Ian Holm, who played Frodo in the BBC radio adaptation. In The Ice Storm (1997) she works with Elijah Wood, who played the part in the film. In Aliens (1986) the stunt double for Newt was Kiran Shah, who was also Wood's scale double. Though they have never worked together she has co-starred with nine actors who have also co-starred with Jamie Lee Curtis: Ray Liotta, Dan Aykroyd, Kevin Kline, Tim Allen, J.E. Freeman, Mel Gibson, Elijah Wood, Philip Bosco and Bill Paxton. Both have co-starred with Michelle Williams. They have also both worked with composer John Ottman and director James Cameron. Sister of older brother, Trajan Weaver. In many of her roles her character has had to deal with artificially intelligent spaceships. In the "Alien" movies, she battles them. In Galaxy Quest (1999), much to her character's chagrin, she repeated whatever the spaceship said. In addition, on an episode of "Futurama" (1999), she had the chance to voice a spaceship. Member of jury at the Cannes Film Festival in 1998 Maintains a regular correspondence with Carrie Henn, who played Newt in Aliens. Attended the Yale School of Drama Shares her birthday with Matt Damon, Kirstanna Loken and Nick Cannon. Remains in contact with her former Aliens co-star Carrie Henn. In the film "Alien Resurrection" (1997) Sigourney actually managed to sink the basketball into the hoop backwards on the first take, even though she wasn't supposed to or intended to. The shot was almost ruined because Ron Pearlman broke character because he was so amazed. Her performance as Ellen Ripley in "Aliens" (1986) is ranked #58 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006). Her performance as Ellen Ripley in the "Alien" quadrilogy is ranked #8 on Premiere Magazine's 100 Greatest Movie Characters of All Time.