Linda Hamilton

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (April 2011)

Linda Hamilton
Hamilton at the Big Apple Convention in Manhattan, October 17, 2009.
Born	Linda Carroll Hamilton September 26, 1956 (1956-09-26) (age 54) Salisbury, Maryland, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1980–present
Spouse	Bruce Abbott (1982–1989) (divorced) 1 son James Cameron (1997–1999) (divorced) 1 daughter

Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator and its sequel Terminator 2: Judgment Day and Catherine Chandler in the television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy. Currently, Hamilton has a recurring role as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski on NBC's Chuck.

Contents 1 Early life 2 Career 3 Personal life 4 Awards 5 Filmography 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Early life

Hamilton was born in Salisbury, Maryland to a physician father who died in a car accident when she was five.^[1][2] Hamilton has an identical twin sister (Leslie Hamilton), 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, with her twin sister, Leslie. 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.

[edit] Career

Hamilton's acting debut came first on television, followed by a major role as Lisa Rogers in the prime-time soap opera Secrets of Midland Heights (1980). Her theatrical debut was in the thriller TAG: The Assassination Game (1982) and as a result, she was listed as one of twelve "Promising New Actors of 1982" in John Willis' Screen World, Vol 34.

Hamilton played the lead in Children of the Corn, based on the horror story by Stephen King. The movie 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, co-starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, in 1984. The movie was an unexpectedly huge commercial and critical success. Following The Terminator, Hamilton starred in Black Moon Rising, an action thriller with Tommy Lee Jones. She then returned to television as a guest-star in the mystery series Murder, She Wrote, scoring favorable reviews. Hamilton next 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 returned to the big screen in 1990 with Michael Caine in Mr. Destiny and in 1991 with Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the sequel to The Terminator. The latter was a smash at the box office, grossing over $500 million, more than any other film of that year. Hamilton underwent intense physical training to emphasize the character's transformation from the first film. Her identical twin sister Leslie Hamilton Gearren was Linda's double in Terminator 2. Hamilton received two MTV Movie Awards for her role in the film, one for Best Female Performance and the other for Most Desirable Female. She reprised the character, Sarah Connor, for the theme park attraction T2 3-D.

In 1990, Hamilton was chosen by People magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the world. Following the success of the Terminator series, she hosted Saturday Night Live.

She returned to television in A Mother's Prayer (1995) playing a mother who lost her husband and is diagnosed with AIDS. For her performance in the film, which co-starred Kate Nelligan and Bruce Dern, Hamilton was awarded a CableACE Award for best dramatic performance and nominated for another Golden Globe in 1996.

That same year, Hamilton filmed two motion pictures that were released one week apart in 1997: Shadow Conspiracy with Charlie Sheen and Dante's Peak with Pierce Brosnan. Shadow Conspiracy flopped at the box office, but Dante's Peak grossed $180 million and was one of the biggest commercial hits of the year. She received a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for female performance in Dante's Peak.

Hamilton has since appeared on the television shows Frasier (season 4 episode "Odd Man Out" as Laura) and According to Jim 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.

Hamilton and her Beauty and the Beast costar Ron Perlman reunited in the 2005 post-Vietnam war drama Missing in America.

In 2009, she returned as Sarah Connor in Terminator Salvation, in voice-overs only.

In 2010, she joined the cast of Chuck in the recurring guest role of Mary Elizabeth Bartowski, a CIA agent and long-missing mother of Chuck and Ellie.^[3][4] She also appears as a guest star in the Showtime cable television show Weeds as the marijuana supplier for the show's main character (Mary Louise Parker).

[edit] Personal life

Hamilton has been married twice.^[5]

She married her first husband, actor Bruce Abbott, on December 18, 1982. In 1989, Abbott and Hamilton separated while she was pregnant with their first child.^[5][6] Hamilton gave birth to her son Dalton on October 4, 1989, and the couple divorced before the year's end.

While filming Terminator 2 in 1991, Hamilton began a relationship with director James Cameron, whom she had met seven years earlier when he directed her in the first Terminator film. They had a daughter, Josephine, born in 1993. She and Cameron eventually married in 1997, but the marriage was short-lived, ending in a $50 million divorce settlement in 1999.^[7]

Hamilton has described herself politically as a Democrat, but she voted for Republican candidate Arnold Schwarzenegger, her Terminator co-star, in the 2003 California gubernatorial election after his campaign convinced her he was suitable for the job.^[8]

In an October 2005 appearance on Larry King Live, Hamilton revealed she has bipolar disorder, which she said destroyed her marriage to first husband Bruce Abbott, whom she admitted having abused verbally and physically, and eventually sought treatment. She also has stated that despite internet rumors to the contrary, she was never married to Peter Horton.^[5]

[edit] Awards

• Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA
  • 1992 – Won Saturn Award Best Actress for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
• Blockbuster Entertainment Awards
  • 1998 – Won Blockbuster Entertainment Award Favorite Actress—Action/Adventure for Dante's Peak (1997)
• CableACE Awards
  • 1995 – Won CableACE Actress in a Movie or Miniseries for A Mother's Prayer (1995) (TV)
• DVD Exclusive Awards
  • 2001 – Won Video Premiere Award Best Supporting Actress for: Skeletons in the Closet (2001)
• Golden Globe Awards
  • 1988 – Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama for Beauty and the Beast
  • 1989 – Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a TV-Series - Drama for Beauty and the Beast
  • 1996 – Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV for A Mother's Prayer (1995)
• MTV Movie Awards
  • 1992 – Won MTV Movie Award Best Female Performance for Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
  • 1992 – Won MTV Movie Award Most Desirable Female
• Satellite Awards
  • 2000 – Won Golden Satellite Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television for The Color of Courage (1999) (TV)

[edit] Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
1982	Tag: The Assassination Game	Susan Swayze
1984	Children of the Corn	Vicky
	The Terminator	Sarah Connor
	The Stone Boy	Eva Crescent Moon (lady on bus)
1985	Secret Weapons
1986	King Kong Lives	Dr. Amy Franklin
	Black Moon Rising	Nina
	Murder, She Wrote	Carol McDermott	TV Series
1987	Beauty and the Beast	Catherine Chandler	TV Series (1987–89)
1988	Go Toward The Light	Claire Madison
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. Narrator
1997	Dante's Peak	Mayor Rachel Wando
	Shadow Conspiracy	Amanda Givens
	Frasier	Laura	TV series (guest star season 4 Ep 24)
1998	On the Line	Det. Jean Martin	TV Movie
	Point Last Seen	Rachel Harrison	TV Movie
1999	The Secret Life of Girls	Ruby Sanford
2000	Skeletons in the Closet	Tina Conway
	Sex & Mrs. X	Joanna Scott	TV Movie
2001	Bailey's Mistake	Liz Donovan	TV Movie
2002	Silent Night	Elisabeth Vincken	TV Movie
2003	Wholey Moses	Valerie	Short
2004	Jonah	June	Short
2004	A Girl Thing	Rachel
2005	Smile	Bridget
	Missing in America	Kate
	The Kid & I	Susan Mandeville
2006	Thief	Roselyn Moore	TV series (guest-star in two episodes)
	Home by Christmas	Julie Bedford	TV movie
2007	Broken	Karen
2009	Holy Water	Cory
	The Line	Carol	TV series (guest-star in two episodes)
	Terminator Salvation	Sarah Connor	Voice role
2010	Weeds	Linda
	DC Showcase: Jonah Hex	Madame Lorraine	Voice role
	Chuck	Mary Elizabeth Bartowski

[edit] References

[edit] External links

This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive and inappropriate external links. (June 2011)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Linda Hamilton

• Linda Hamilton at the Internet Movie Database
• 2006 Linda Hamilton Interview on Sidewalks Entertainment
• Linda Hamilton interview with Larry King

v · d · eMTV Movie Award for Best Performance Arnold Schwarzenegger / Linda Hamilton (1992) • Denzel Washington / Sharon Stone (1993) • Tom Hanks / Janet Jackson (1994) • Brad Pitt / Sandra Bullock (1995) • Jim Carrey / Alicia Silverstone (1996) • Tom Cruise / Claire Danes (1997) • Leonardo DiCaprio / Neve Campbell (1998) • Jim Carrey / Cameron Diaz (1999) • Keanu Reeves / Sarah Michelle Gellar (2000) • Tom Cruise / Julia Roberts (2001) • Will Smith / Nicole Kidman (2002) • Eminem / Kirsten Dunst (2003) • Johnny Depp / Uma Thurman (2004) • Leonardo DiCaprio / Lindsay Lohan (2005) • Jake Gyllenhaal (2006) • Johnny Depp (2007) • Will Smith / Ellen Page (2008) • Zac Efron / Kristen Stewart (2009) • Robert Pattinson / Kristen Stewart (2010) • Robert Pattinson / Kristen Stewart (2011)

v · d · eSaturn Award for Best Actress Katharine Ross (1974/75) · Blythe Danner (1976) · Jodie Foster (1977) · Margot Kidder (1978) · Mary Steenburgen (1979) · Angie Dickinson (1980) · Karen Allen (1981) · Sandahl Bergman (1982) · Louise Fletcher (1983) · Daryl Hannah (1984) · Coral Browne (1985) · Sigourney Weaver (1986) · Jessica Tandy (1987) · Catherine Hicks (1988) · Demi Moore (1989/90) · Linda Hamilton (1991) · Virginia Madsen (1992) · Andie MacDowell (1993) · Sandra Bullock, Jamie Lee Curtis (1994) · Angela Bassett (1995) · Neve Campbell (1996) · Jodie Foster (1997) · Drew Barrymore (1998) · Christina Ricci (1999) · Téa Leoni (2000) · Nicole Kidman (2001) · Naomi Watts (2002) · Uma Thurman (2003) · Blanchard Ryan (2004) · Naomi Watts (2005) · Natalie Portman (2006) · Amy Adams (2007) · Angelina Jolie (2008) · Zoe Saldana (2009) · Natalie Portman (2010) Note: The years are listed as per convention, usually the year of film release; the ceremonies are usually held the next year.

Persondata
Name	Hamilton, Linda
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 26, 1956
Place of birth	Salisbury, Maryland, U.S.
Date of death
Place of death