By Clarice Burger
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Susan Alexandra “Sigourney” Weaver (/sɪˈɡɔːrni/ sig-OR-nee; born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. Prolific in film since the late 1970s, she is known for her pioneering portrayals of action heroines in blockbusters and for her various roles in independent films. She is the recipient of numerous 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.
Born in New York City, Weaver is the daughter of American television executive Pat Weaver and English actress Elizabeth Inglis. She made her screen debut with a minor role in the romantic comedy film Annie Hall (1977), before landing her breakthrough role as Ellen Ripley in the science fiction horror film Alien (1979). She reprised the role in the sequel Aliens (1986) earning a landmark nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and in two more films for the franchise. Ripley is regarded as a significant female protagonist in cinema history. Her other franchise roles include Dana Barrett in the Ghostbusters films (1984–2021) and dual roles in the Avatar film series (2009–present), which rank among the highest-grossing films of all time.
In 1989, Weaver won two Golden Globes and two simultaneous Oscar nominations for her roles as Dian Fossey in Gorillas in the Mist and an executive in Working Girl (both 1988); she also became the first actor to win two Golden Globes for acting in the same year. She then won the British Academy Film Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in The Ice Storm (1997). Her other film roles include The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Copycat (1995), Galaxy Quest (1999), The Village (2004), Vantage Point (2008), Chappie (2015), and A Monster Calls (2016). She also had voice roles in the Pixar animated films WALL-E (2008) and Finding Dory (2016).
On stage, Weaver’s Broadway performances include The Constant Wife (1975), Hurlyburly (1984), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike (2013), and The Tempest (2025); her performance in Hurlyburly earned her a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play. On television, she received Emmy Award nominations for her roles in the horror film Snow White: A Tale of Terror (1998), the drama film Prayers for Bobby (2009), the miniseries Political Animals (2013), and for narrating the National Geographic documentary Secrets of the Whales (2021). Her other television projects include the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero miniseries The Defenders (2017) and the drama miniseries The Lost Flowers of Alice Hart (2023).
Susan Alexandra Weaver was born in New York City on October 8, 1949,[6][7] the daughter of English actress Elizabeth Inglis (1913–2007)[8] and American television executive Pat Weaver (1908–2002).[9] Her father served as president of NBC from 1953 to 1955, during which time he created The Today Show.[10] Pat’s brother, Doodles Weaver, was a comedian and contributor to Mad.[11] She is of Dutch, English, German, Irish and Scottish descent through her father.[12][13]
At the age of 14, Weaver began using the name “Sigourney” after she took it from a minor character in The Great Gatsby. She briefly attended the Brearley School and Chapin School in New York before arriving at the Ethel Walker School in Simsbury, Connecticut, where she developed an early interest in performing. One of her early roles was in a school adaptation of the poem “The Highwayman“, and on another occasion she played a Rudolph Valentino character in an adaptation of The Sheik.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Died
- Henry Fielding (writer) –
- John Hancock (statesman) –
- Franklin Pierce (14th U.S. president) –
Born
- James Wilson Marshall (pioneer) –
- John Hay (politician) –
- Ozias Leduc (Canadian painter; born in Saint-Hilaire, Quebec, Canada) –
- Otto Heinrich Warburg (biochemist) –
- Edward V. Rickenbacker (WWI flying ace) –
- Juan Peron (former president of Argentina) –
- Billy Conn (boxer) –
- Frank Patrick Herbert (writer) –
- Faith Ringgold (artist & writer) –
- Paul Hogan (actor) –
- Jesse Jackson (politician) –
- Chevy Chase (actor) –
- Robert Lawrence (R. L.” Stine writer”) –
- Sigourney Weaver (actress) –
- Emily Procter (actress) –
- Matt Damon (actor) –
- Bruno Mars (singer) –
Events
- Acadians, refusing to swear loyalty to British crown, were expelled from Nova Scotia –
- Great Chicago Fire began in a stable on the west side of the Chicago River when, historians agree, Mr. and Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicked over an oil lamp –
- Deadly forest fire began in Peshtigo, Wisconsin –
- Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) began tour of United States –
- The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet debuted –
- NY Yankees pitcher, Don Larsen, pitched the first perfect baseball game in World Series history –
- Walter O’Malley, president and chief stockholder of the Brooklyn Dodgers, announced that his baseball team would move to Los Angeles. –
- Possible UFO photographed, Vancouver Island, British Columbia –
- Judge David Souter was sworn in as the 105th U.S. Supreme Court justice –
- Congress approves the California Desert Bill. The bill will allow for the expansion and upgrade of Death Valley and Joshua Tree National Monuments, as well as the creation of the Mojave National Preserve and several large wilderness areas. Republicans filibustered against the bill but failed to prevent its passing. Affecting 6 million acres, the legislation was the largest land conservation bill ever enacted for the US outside Alaska –
- Tom Ridge was sworn in as the first director of the newly created Office of Homeland Security –
- Kenyan Wangari Maathai was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. She was the first African woman to receive the award. –
- A magnitude 7.6 earthquake struck Pakistan and parts of India and Afghanistan. More than 73,000 lives were lost –
- California wildfires began in wine country –
Weather
- Thirteen inches of snow stranded a thousand people in Wyoming –
COURTESY www.almanac.com
