Sigourney Alexandra Weaver (born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Lieutenant Ellen Ripley in the Alien film series and as Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters movies. Weaver is also a three-time Academy Award nominee for her performances in Aliens, Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl. She is one of the very few actresses who has been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in a science fiction movie (Aliens).
She was born with the name Susan Alexandra Weaver in New York City, but she began using the name "Sigourney Weaver" in 1963, at age fourteen, because of a minor character (Sigourney Howard) in F. Scott Fitzgerald's novel The Great Gatsby.
She graduated from Stanford University in 1972 with a BA in English. She also earned an MFA in 1974 from Yale School of Drama. She is fluent in French and in German.
She also starred in two films in 1988, receiving Academy Award nominations for her roles as Katherine Parker in Working Girl and as naturalist Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist. She lost out to Geena Davis and Jodie Foster respectively, although she received Golden Globes for both roles.
She has been married to filmmaker Jim Simpson since October 1, 1984. They have one daughter Charlotte Simpson, who was born April 13, 1990.
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