Sigourney Weaver Biography

Actor Sigourney Weaver is best known for her recurring role as Ellen Ripley, the scrambling, feisty, critter-battling astronaut of the Alien sci-fi movie series (1979-97).

Weaver made her film debut in a small part in the Woody Allen comedy Annie Hall (1977), and the success of Alien just two years later vaulted her to leading lady status.

Statuesque and aloof, Weaver gave steady dramatic performances in movies such as The Year of Living Dangerously (1982, co-starring Mel Gibson), Gorillas in the Mist: The Story of Dian Fossey (1988) and The Ice Storm (1997), but she has also starred in several hit comedies, including Ghost Busters (1984, with Bill Murray), Working Girl (1988, with Harrison Ford) and the sci-fi spoof Galaxy Quest (1999).

The Alien film series included Alien (1979), Aliens (1986, directed by James Cameron), Alien3 (1992) and Alien Resurrection (1997). Weaver was nominated for an Oscar for her performance in Aliens (in 1989 she was nominated for her leading role in Gorillas in the Mist and for her supporting role in Working Girl).

Weaver reunited with Cameron for the blockbuster sorta-sci-fi film Avatar (2009) and its sequels.

Her other films include Death and the Maiden (1994, with Ben Kingsley), Holes (2003, starring young Shia LaBeouf), M. Night Shyamalan‘s The Village (2004), Baby Mama (2008, with Tina Fey), and My Salinger Year (2020).