Summer Lyn Glau (//; born July 24, 1981) is an American actress. She is best known for playing River Tam in Firefly and Serenity, as well as Cameron in the Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles series.
Early life[edit]
Glau was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up with her two younger sisters Kaitlin and Christie. She is of Scots-Irish and German descent.[1] Her mother is a school teacher and her father a general contractor.[2]
Glau received a scholarship to a ballet company and was home-schooled from grades 3 to 12 to accommodate her ballet training.[3] Glau was classically trained as a ballet dancer[4] and also studied tango and flamenco. After a broken toe[3] ended her dancing career,[4] Glau later moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a more active acting career.
Glau's first television credit was a guest role as a ballerina on the 2002 episode "Waiting in the Wings" of the television series Angel. There she caught the eye of director Joss Whedon, who later cast her in his critically acclaimed but short-lived TV series Firefly as River Tam, a role she reprised for the show's feature film sequel, Serenity. Glau previously auditioned for the role as a Power Ranger in Power Rangers Wild Force before meeting Joss Whedon.[5]
Glau at CollectorMania 2007
Glau appeared on the episode "Love Conquers Al" of the TV series Cold Case. She had a small role in the film Sleepover, in which she played a high school senior named Shelly. She also appeared in the CSI episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?", and the second season of The Unit; portraying Crystal Burns, the girlfriend of Jeremy Erhart. In 2006, Glau played Tess Doerner, a paranoid schizophrenic returnee in the second season premiere of The 4400 (episode "Wake-Up Call"), and became a recurring character from season 3 onwards. She also starred in the science fiction film Mammoth. Glau was cast in the ABC Family TV movie The Initiation of Sarah.
In Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, a series that debuted January 13, 2008, Glau played the role of Cameron Phillips, a Terminator infiltration unit sent back to protect John Connor and Sarah Connor from Skynet.[6] The seventh episode of the series, "The Demon Hand", included several scenes in which Glau (in character as Cameron) dances ballet. Glau also guest starred as herself in the 2009 episode "The Terminator Decoupling" from the second season of the CBS situation comedy The Big Bang Theory.[7]
On August 26, 2009, it was confirmed after much speculation that Glau would be joining the cast of Joss Whedon's Dollhouse for at least two episodes in the early part of the show's second season. She portrayed Bennett, the programmer for a rival Dollhouse.[8] On March 12, 2010, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of NBC's The Cape in a leading role.[9] In June 2010, she was confirmed as the female lead in the horror comedy film Knights of Badassdom.[10] On July 11, 2011, Glau was cast on Alphas as Skylar Adams, a recurring alpha and mother to Zoe Adams, and a former acquaintance of Dr. Rosen and Nina.[11] Glau voiced Kara Zor-El in the DC Comics original animated movie Superman/Batman: Apocalypse.[12]
Personal life[edit]
Glau has been involved in a number of charities, such as B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre[13] Glau is an animal lover and has shown support to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles,[14] where she hand-painted a decorative pet bowl that was later sold on eBay to raise funds. She became a vegetarian in 1995, but, in 2005 she stated, "by the end of shooting Serenity I was eating steaks."[15] Glau has trained in multiple forms of martial arts, including kung fu and kickboxing.[15][16][17]
Filmography[edit]
Television[edit]
Awards/Nominations[edit]
Awards and nominations
| Year |
Award |
Category |
Production |
Result |
| 2005 |
SFX Award |
Best Actress |
Serenity |
Won |
| 2006 |
SyFy Genre Awards |
Best Actress/Movie |
Serenity |
Nominated[20] |
| 2006 |
Saturn Award |
Best Supporting Actress |
Serenity |
Won[21] |
| 2008 |
Saturn Award |
Best Supporting Actress on Television |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Won (tied with Elizabeth Mitchell)[22] |
| 2008 |
Scream Award |
Best Actress in a Science Fiction Movie or TV Show |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Nominated[23] |
| 2008 |
Teen Choice Award |
Choice TV Actress: Action Adventure |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Nominated |
| 2008 |
Teen Choice Award |
Choice TV Breakout Female Star |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Nominated |
| 2009 |
Saturn Award |
Best Supporting Actress in Television |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Nominated |
| 2009 |
Teen Choice Award |
Choice TV Actress: Action/Adventure |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Nominated |
References[edit]
- ^ "Summer Glau – About her career – Summer-glau.net Interview". Dollhouse, Firefly, Angel, Buffy. 16 April 2007.
- ^ "Summer Glau Biography". Film Reference.
- ^ a b Robinson, Tasha (24 February 2008). "Summer Glau Interview". The A.V. Club. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
- ^ a b Clehane, Diane (October 2008). "Steal Summer Glau's Workout Tips". Women's Health.
- ^ Huvane, Chris. "Hot Summer". GQ. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (8 February 2007). "Serenity Comes to Sarah Connor". IGN. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
- ^ "SCOOP! Summer Glau Plays A LARPer In Joe Lynch’s Knights Of Badassdom". Bleedingcool.com. 2010-06-11. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Summer Glau Joins Joe Lynch's The Knights of Badassdom". Dreadcentral.com. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (12 March 2010). "Summer Glau moves to 'The Cape'". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ "'Terminator' Hottie Summer Glau Battles Heavy Metal Demons in 'Knights of Badassdom'!". Bloody-disgusting.com. Retrieved 2010-10-28.
- ^ "Alphas – 1×07 – Catch and Release". summer-glau.net. 2 August 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
- ^ Sands, Rich (28 June 2010). "First Look: Summer Glau Takes Off As Supergirl". TV Guide. Retrieved 29 June 2010.
- ^ "Online Auction – Bears that Care". BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre Foundation. March 2007.
- ^ "Supported Causes". summer-glau.net.
- ^ a b "Dance of the telepathic space assassin". Telegraph.co.uk. 1 October 2005. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Summer Glau Talks About "Serenity"". About.com.
- ^ "Summer Glau: Serenity's psychic reveals all" (PDF). Summer-Glau.net.
- ^ "Movie held hostage: 'Knights of Badassdom'". videoeta.com. 31 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2012.
- ^ "PETER PANZERFAUST IS ON THE MOVE". Image Comics. April 16, 2013. Retrieved April 30, 2013.
- ^ "Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards". Airlock Alpha. 1 October 2006. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ^ "And the winners are...". Saturn Awards.
- ^ ""Enchanted" and "Lost" are the big winners at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards.
- ^ "2008 Scream Awards Nominees". movieguys.org.
External links[edit]
| Persondata |
| Name |
Glau, Summer |
| Alternative names |
|
| Short description |
Actress |
| Date of birth |
July 24, 1981 |
| Place of birth |
San Antonio, Texas |
| Date of death |
|
| Place of death |
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