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Linda Hamilton

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Linda Hamilton
Hamilton at the Titanic special effects wrap-up party on the Queen Mary, 1997
Born
Linda Carroll Hamilton
OccupationActress
Spouse(s)Bruce Abbott (1982-1989)
James Cameron (1997-1999)
AwardsSaturn Award for Best Actress (film)
1991 Terminator 2: Judgment Day

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

Biography

Early life

Hamilton was born in Salisbury, Maryland to a physician father who died in a car accident when she was five.[1][2] 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 identical 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 The Big Apple 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. 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 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).

Due to the success of the Terminator series[citation needed], 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. They divorced after Linda discovered he was having an affair with actress Suzy Amis[citation needed] during the making of the movie Titanic. The legal repercussions of that affair netted Linda an $50 million divorce settlement.

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
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 Point Last Seen Rachel Harrison
1999 The Secret Life of Girls Ruby Sanford
2000 Skeletons in the Closet Tina Conway
2002 Silent Night Elisabeth Vincken
2003 Wholey Moses Valerie Short
2004 Jonah June Short
2005 Smile Bridget
Missing in America Kate
The Kid & I Susan Mandeville
2006 Broken Karen
Thief Roselyn Moore

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 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.
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