Linda Hamilton Biography




Linda Hamilton
extracted from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, distributed under the GNU Free Documentation License

Linda Hamilton

Born Linda Carroll Hamilton
September 26, 1956 (1956-09-26) (age 52)
Salisbury, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation Actress
Spouse(s) Bruce Abbott (1982-1989)
James Cameron (1997-1999)

Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is a Saturn Award-winning, Emmy- and Golden Globe-nominated American actress, best known for her roles as Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel, Terminator 2: Judgment Day and as Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Hamilton was born in Salisbury, MD to a physician father who died in a car accident when she was five.12 Linda has an identical twin sister, one older sister and one younger brother. She has said that she was raised in a "very boring, white Anglo-Saxon" family, and "voraciously read books" during her spare time.2 Hamilton went to Wicomico Junior High (now Wicomico Middle School) and Wicomico High School in Salisbury, Maryland, with her twin sister, Leslie Hamilton Gearren. She studied for two years at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, before moving on to acting studies in New York City. While attending Washington College, her acting professor told her she had no hope of earning a living as an actress. In New York she attended acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg.

Career

Hamilton's acting debut came first with guest starring appearances on television, followed by a major role as Lisa Rogers in the prime-time soap opera Secrets of Midland Heights (1980).

Listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1982" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol 34. Hamilton's film debut was a lead role in the horror film Children of the Corn, even though this very article's Filmography lists her as a cast member in the 1982 film Tag: The Assassination Game. The movie, Children of the Corn, was panned by critics, but it made a profit at the box office, and had a strong cult following. Hamilton's next role was in The Terminator in 1984. The movie was an unexpectedly huge commercial success. Following The Terminator, Hamilton starred in Black Moon Rising, an action thriller starring Tommy Lee Jones. She then returned to television in the mystery comedy Murder, She Wrote, scoring favorable reviews.

Hamilton then starred opposite Ron Perlman in the TV series Beauty and the Beast. The series was critically-acclaimed and she received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Hamilton left the series in 1989 and it ended in 1990. Hamilton went back to the big screen with the follow-up to The Terminator, Terminator 2: Judgment Day. The film was a smash at the box office, grossing over 500 million, and becoming the highest grossing film of 1991. Her identical twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren was Linda's double in Terminator 2. Hamilton reprised this character, Sarah Connor, for the theme park attraction T2 3-D.

Chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world (1990).

Following the success of the Terminator series, Hamilton hosted Saturday Night Live. She then returned to television in A Mother's Prayer playing a mother who lost her husband and is diagnosed with AIDS. She earned yet another Golden Globe nomination. That same year, Hamilton filmed two motion pictures, Shadow Conspiracy and Dante's Peak. Shadow Conspiracy flopped at the box office, but Dante's Peak opened in at number two with an opening gross of 18 million, going on to gross 180 million. Hamilton has since appeared on Frasier and has done more TV movies, including On the Line, Robots Rising, Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples, Point Last Seen, and The Color of Courage.

Personal life

Hamilton has been married and divorced twice.3 Her first marriage was to Bruce Abbott, from 1982 to 1989. They had a son, Dalton Abbott, born on October 4, 1989. Her second marriage was to film director James Cameron from 1997 to 1999; they had a daughter, Josephine Archer Cameron, born on February 15, 1993. Hamilton received a $50 million divorce settlement.4

Hamilton appeared on the October 14, 2005, episode of Larry King Live to reveal that she suffered from bipolar disorder. She revealed that her condition destroyed her marriage to her first husband, Bruce Abbott, and she said that she abused him verbally and physically. Linda said that it was her love for her two children that finally forced her to seek treatment and she began taking medication in 1996. Linda says that she will always be grateful she chose treatment and regrets the pain it caused her loved ones. She also mentions that she was never married to Peter Horton despite internet rumors to the contrary.3

Hamilton is good friends with former Beauty and the Beast co-star Ron Perlman. They reunited in the post-Vietnam war drama Missing in America.

Awards

Filmography

Year Title Role Notes
1979 Night-Flowers Wafer
1982 Tag: The Assassination Game Susan Swayze
1984 The Terminator Sarah Connor
Children of the Corn Vicky
The Stone Boy Eva Crescent Moon Lady on Bus
1986 King Kong Lives Dr. Amy Franklin
Black Moon Rising Nina
1987 Beauty and the Beast Catherine Chandler TV Series (1987-1989)
1990 Mr. Destiny Ellen Jane
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day Sarah Connor
1994 Silent Fall Karen Rainer
1995 Separate Lives Lauren Porter/Lena
1996 T2 3-D: Battle Across Time Sarah Connor At Universal Studios, Orlando
1997 Dante's Peak Mayor Rachel Wando
Shadow Conspiracy Amanda Givens
1998 On the Line Det. Jean Martin TV Movie
1998 Point Last Seen Rachel Harrison TV Movie
1999 The Secret Life of Girls Ruby Sanford
2000 Skeletons in the Closet Tina Conway
2000 Sex & Mrs. X Joanna Scott TV Movie
2002 Silent Night Elisabeth Vincken TV Movie
2003 Wholey Moses Valerie Short
2004 Jonah June Short
2005 Smile Bridget
Missing in America Kate
The Kid & I Susan Mandeville
2006 Thief Roselyn Moore TV Series (Guest starred in 2 episodes)
Home by Christmas Julie Bedford TV Movie
2007 Broken Karen
2009 Waters Rising Cory Currently in production

References

  1. ^ Filmreference.com
  2. ^ a b JewishJournal.com
  3. ^ a b "CNN Larry King Live Interview with Linda Hamilton (transcript)". cnn.com (2005-10-14). Retrieved on 2008-01-02. "I was not married to Peter Horton, which is sort of all over the Web site that I've been married three times, so I look like -- but for some reason that's false information. I was never married to Peter Horton."
  4. ^ "Forbes: Michael Jordan's Divorce Most Costly Ever". foxnews.com (2007-04-16). Retrieved on 2008-12-15.

External links

Sister project Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linda Hamilton

{{Navbox |name = Terminator |title = The Terminator series |titlestyle=background: #CCCCCC; |groupstyle=background: #CCCCCC; |group1 = Films |list1 = Terminator (1984) • Judgment Day (1991) • Rise of the Machines (2003) • [[Terminator Salvation]|Salvation] (2009)

|group2 = Other media |list2 = T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996) • Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles (2007-) • Books • Comics • Games

|group3 = Characters |list3 = "The Terminator" • Kate Brewster • Sarah Connor • John Connor • Miles Dyson • James Ellison • Cameron • Kyle Reese • Dr. Peter Silberman • Derek Reese • Catherine Weaver • Cromartie • Riley • Skynet

|group4 = Terminators |list4 = T-1 • T-70 • T-600 • T-800/850/Model 101 • T-888 • T-1000/1001 • T-1000000 • T-X • Cameron • I-950

|group5 = Locations |list5 = Los Angeles • Crystal Peak

|group6 = Organizations |list6 = Cyberdyne Systems • Tech-Com

|group7 = Cast |list7 = Arnold Schwarzenegger • Linda Hamilton • Michael Biehn • Paul Winfield • Lance Henriksen • Edward Furlong • Robert Patrick • Nick Stahl • Claire Danes • Kristanna Loken • Earl Boen • Lena Headey • Thomas Dekker • Summer Glau • Christian Bale • Richard T. Jones • Brian Austin Green • Bryce Dallas Howard • Sam Worthington • Helena Bonham Carter • Shirley Manson • Leven Rambin

|group8 = Crew |list8 = James Cameron • Gale Ann Hurd  • William Wisher Jr.  • Randall Frakes  • Jonathan Mostow • Mario Kassar • Andrew G. Vajna • Stan Winston • Joseph "McG" McGinty Nichol

|group9= Miscellaneous |list9 = "Hasta la vista, baby" • "I'll be back" • Terminator argument • "You Could Be Mine" }}