Linda Hamilton facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Linda Hamilton
Hamilton in 2019
Born	Linda Carroll Hamilton (1956-09-26) September 26, 1956 (age 68) Salisbury, Maryland, U.S.
Alma mater	Washington College Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1979–present
Works	Full list
Spouse(s)	Bruce Abbott ​ ​ (m. 1982; div. 1989)​ James Cameron ​ ​ (m. 1997; div. 1999)​
Children	2

Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is a famous American actress. She is best known for playing strong characters. Her most famous role is Sarah Connor in the The Terminator movies. These include the original The Terminator (1984), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and Terminator: Dark Fate (2019).

Linda Hamilton has won many awards for her acting. These include two Saturn Awards and two MTV Movie Awards. She has also been nominated for Golden Globes and an Emmy. Besides the Terminator films, she starred in Dante's Peak (1997). On TV, she was Catherine Chandler in Beauty and the Beast (1987–1989). She also played Mary Elizabeth Bartowski in the TV show Chuck (2010–2012).

Linda Hamilton's Early Life

Linda Hamilton was born in Salisbury, Maryland, on September 26, 1956. Her father passed away when she was five years old. Her mother later married a police chief.

Linda has an identical twin sister named Leslie. Leslie was also born in 1956 but passed away in 2020. Linda also has an older sister and a younger brother. She often said her family life was "boring." Because of this, she spent a lot of time reading books.

Linda and Leslie went to Wicomico Junior High and Wicomico High School in Salisbury. Linda then studied at Washington College for two years. After that, she moved to New York City to study acting. Her acting teacher at Washington College once told her she might not make a living as an actress. But Linda didn't give up! In New York, she took acting classes with Lee Strasberg.

Linda Hamilton's Acting Career

Starting Out: Early Roles (1979–1983)

Linda Hamilton started her acting career at age 23. Her first small part was in the 1979 movie Night-Flowers. Her first bigger role came in 1980. She played Lisa Rogers in the TV show Secrets of Midland Heights.

In 1982, she got her first main movie role in the thriller TAG: The Assassination Game. That same year, she also starred in a TV movie called Country Gold. She was even named one of the "Promising New Actors of 1982" in a book called Screen World.

Becoming Famous: Terminator and TV Shows (1984–1997)

Linda Hamilton became very well known in 1984. She starred in two important films. First, she was in the horror movie Children of the Corn. She played Vicky Baxter, a traveler who gets into trouble in Nebraska. The movie made a lot of money.

Next, she starred in James Cameron's science fiction movie The Terminator (1984). Linda played Sarah Connor. Sarah is a young waitress who finds herself in a scary situation. A soldier from the future comes to help her fight a cyborg assassin. This assassin was sent from the future to stop her. The movie was a huge hit! Critics praised Linda's strong performance as Sarah.

After The Terminator, Linda starred in the action movie Black Moon Rising (1986). She played a car thief named Nina. She also appeared in an episode of Murder, She Wrote. In 1986, she was in King Kong Lives, a sequel to the 1976 King Kong movie.

Linda's next big role was on TV. She played Catherine Chandler in the series Beauty and the Beast. This show was a modern version of the classic fairy tale. It ran for three seasons from 1987 to 1990. Linda won an award called the Romy Award for her role. She was also nominated for Golden Globe and Emmy Awards.

Linda Hamilton in 1997

Linda returned to movies in 1990 with Mr. Destiny. The next year, she worked with James Cameron again for Terminator 2: Judgment Day. This movie was one of the most expensive ever made at the time. It earned over $500 million worldwide!

Linda worked very hard for her role in T2. She went through intense physical training. She wanted to show how much Sarah Connor had changed and become tougher. Linda even said her trainer would yell at her and throw tennis balls while she practiced shooting. She would sometimes cry but then get back to work! Critics were very impressed by her strong performance. She won two MTV Movie Awards and a Saturn Award for Best Actress. Her role as Sarah Connor is now seen as one of the most famous female roles in movie history.

After T2, Linda was in thrillers like Silent Fall (1994) and Separate Lives (1995). In the TV movie A Mother's Prayer (1995), she played a woman facing a serious health condition. She won an award and was nominated for a Golden Globe. Linda said she took this role to show a different side of herself. She wanted to show she could play someone strong but also fragile.

In 1997, Linda starred in two more movies. These were the political thriller Shadow Conspiracy and the action-adventure film Dante's Peak. Dante's Peak was a big hit, making $180 million. Linda played Rachel Wando, a small-town mayor. She won the Best Actress award at the Blockbuster Entertainment Awards for this role.

More Roles: Stage, TV, and Film (1998–2018)

From 1998 to 1999, Linda Hamilton did voice work for cartoons like The New Batman Adventures and Batman Beyond. She also starred in the TV film The Color of Courage (2000), which critics praised. She won a Satellite Award for her performance.

In 2001, Linda starred in the mystery thriller Skeletons in the Closet. She won an award for Best Supporting Actress for this film. She also played a real-life person, Ethel Rosenberg, in a play called Worse Than Murder: Ethel and Julius Rosenberg in 2002. She said it was a big challenge to play this character.

Linda had supporting roles in two movies in 2005: Missing in America and The Kid & I.

Linda Hamilton at the Big Apple Convention, 2009

In 2006, Linda received praise for her role in the play The Night of the Iguana. She played Maxine Faulk, a strong and funny hotel owner.

Linda returned to the Terminator world with a voice cameo in Terminator Salvation (2009). In 2010, she joined the TV show Chuck. She played a secret agent named Mary Elizabeth Bartowski.

In 2011, Linda narrated a documentary about horror films called The Future of Fear. She then played a fictional U.S. president in the TV miniseries Air Force One Is Down (2013). She also had recurring roles in the TV shows Lost Girl (2013) and Defiance (2014–2015). In 2017, she was in the science fiction movie Curvature.

In 2016, Linda starred in a short comedy film called Shoot Me Nicely. She won several awards for her role as a talent agent in this film.

Back to the Mainstream: Recent Projects (2019–Present)

Linda Hamilton returned to her famous role as Sarah Connor in Terminator: Dark Fate (2019). This movie takes place 25 years after T2. Linda was not sure about returning at first. She loved her quiet life away from the spotlight. But she decided to come back for the fans.

Linda Hamilton at San Diego Comic Con, 2019

Filming for Dark Fate happened in Hungary, Spain, and the U.S. The movie received good reviews, especially for Linda's performance.

Later in 2019, Linda won Best Actress at the Los Angeles Crime and Horror Film Festival. This was for her role as "King George," a tough crime boss, in the movie Easy Does It.

In 2021, she began appearing as General McCallister in the TV series Resident Alien. She also guest-starred in six episodes of the TV show Claws.

In June 2023, it was announced that Linda Hamilton would join the cast of the popular Netflix show Stranger Things. She will be in the fifth and final season, which is expected in 2025. Linda is a big fan of the show herself!

Linda Hamilton's Personal Life

Linda Hamilton's twin sister, Leslie, passed away on August 22, 2020. Leslie actually appeared in a few scenes of Terminator 2: Judgment Day. She was Linda's double when the T-1000 robot pretended to be Sarah Connor.

Linda considers herself a Democrat in politics. However, she voted for her Terminator co-star, Arnold Schwarzenegger, in the 2003 California election. She felt he was right for the job.

While filming Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Linda had a small accident. She forgot to put in her earplugs for a scene where Arnold Schwarzenegger fired a shotgun in an elevator. This caused permanent hearing damage in one ear.

Family Life

Linda Hamilton has been married and divorced twice. Her first marriage was to actor Bruce Abbott from 1982 to 1989. They had a son named Dalton, born in 1989.

In 1991, Linda started a relationship with film director James Cameron after they finished filming Terminator 2: Judgment Day. They had a daughter, born in 1993. Linda and James Cameron married in 1997. They later divorced in 1999.

Health and Well-being

Linda Hamilton has openly talked about her experiences with bipolar disorder. This condition can cause big changes in a person's mood. She shared that she received therapy and medication to help manage her condition.

Filmography

Awards and Recognitions

See also

In Spanish: Linda Hamilton para niños