1. Sigourney Weaver's birth name is Susan Alexandra Weaver.
2. Sigourney was born on October 8, 1949, in New York, New York.
3. Sigourney changed her name in 1963, naming herself after Sigourney Howard from F. Scott Figzgerald's The Great Gatsby.
4. Sigourney attended Stanford, and majored in English literature.
5. During college, Sigourney lived in a treehouse and dressed like an elf!
6. Early in her career, Sigourney was often turned down for lead roles because of her short height (5'11"?!).
7. In 1979, after starring in Alien, Sigourney became an overnight sensation.
8. When the film Alien was written, the characters were all referred to by last name, and no gender was assigned. The writer asked the casting director to select whomever delivered the best audition. In his mind, the only character who was assigned a gender was Ripley, the hero of the script, who he assumed to be a male. Sigourney, however, best delivered Ripley's lines, and was subsequently given the part.
9. Sigourney married Jim Simpson on October 1, 1984.
10. Sigourney received an Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Ripley in the film Aliens in 1986.
11. Sigourney has 1 child with husband, Jim Simpson.
12. Sigourney has a fear of elevators. (Not related, but does anyone see the terrifying elevator scene in Aliens? SCAAAAAAAAAAAARY!)
13. Sigourney has both brown hair and eyes.
14. Sigourney is fluent in both French and German.
15. Daughter's name is Charlotte.
16. Sigourney is one of only 11 actresses who have been nominated for both Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress for different films in the same year.
17. Sigourney's measurements are 34B-24-35.
18. In 2004, Sigourney was in a film titled The Village. After reading the script, she had nightmares for weeks!
19. Sigourney served on the Cannes film jury in 1998.
20. The script for Alien: Resurrection called for Sigourney to shoot a basketball backwards over her shoulder from half court. The crew planned to rig the shot to where Sigourney would toss a ball, then it would be dropped from above into the hoop. Sigourney, however, insisted she could make the shot without any stunt doubles or special effects. She made the shot on her own in one take, though the shot was almost unusable, because the editing crew had to cut out Ron Pearlman, who broke character when he saw Sigourney make the basket.
21. Sigourney is one of only 7 actresses to be nominated for an Oscar for a leading role in a horror film.
22. Mike Garrigan wrote a song called "Sigourney Weaver" in tribute to the actress.
23. Sigourney's character Dana from Ghostbusters is the only main character from the first movie who was not included in the animated series.
24. According to Primiere Magazine, Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley is the #8 most memorable character of all time.
25. Sigourney won two Golden Globes in 1988.
All knowledge is power. Read enough factoids and you will be able to stop a speeding train with your bare hands.
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