Summer Glau

Infobox actor
name = Summer Glau


caption = Summer Glau at a 2005 Serenity Flanvention.
birthname = Summer Lyn Glau
birthdate = birth date and age |mf=yes|1981|7|24|
birthplace = San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.
deathdate =
deathplace =
yearsactive = 2002—present
spouse =
website =

Summer Glau (born July 24, 1981) is an American dancer and actress, best known for playing River Tam in the short-lived science fiction series "Firefly" (2003) the follow-up movie "Serenity" (2005), and for playing the Terminator "Cameron" in the series ".

Biography

Early life

Glau was born and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. She is of Scottish, Irish, and German descent. [cite web|url=http://www.summer-glau.net/wp/?page_id=3|title=Biography|work=Summer-Glau.net|accessdate=2008-09-12]

Career

Glau was classically trained as a ballerinacite web|url=http://summer-glau.net|title=Summer-Glau.net] and also studied tango and flamenco. A professional dancer since age 12, she appeared in several television commercials.

Having relocated to Los Angeles in 2002, Glau's first television credit was a guest role as a ballerina on the 2002 episode "Waiting in the Wings" (episode 3x13) of the television series "Angel". There she caught the eye of director Joss Whedon, who later cast her in his short-lived TV series "Firefly" as River Tam, a role she reprised for the show's feature film sequel, "Serenity".

Glau appeared on the episode "Love Conquers Al" (1x06) 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 "" 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 an essential recurring character from Season 3 onwards. Her character had the power to compel people to do whatever she wanted. She also starred in the science fiction film "Mammoth".

Glau was cast in a TV movie on ABC Family called "The Initiation of Sarah".

In "", a series that debuted January 13, 2008, Glau plays the role of Cameron Phillips, a Terminator infiltration unit sent back to protect John Connor and Sarah Connor from Skynet. [cite web|url=http://tv.ign.com/articles/762/762971p1.html|title="Serenity" Comes to "Sarah Connor"| accessdate=2007-02-15] The seventh episode of the series, "The Demon Hand", included several scenes in which Glau (in character as Cameron) dances ballet.

Awards

Glau was voted Best Actress of 2005 by readers of "SFX" magazine and received a 2005 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in "Serenity" [ [http://www.saturnawards.org/winners.html Saturn Awards winners page] ] . She was also runner up for "Best Actress/Movie" in the SyFy Genre Awards for 2006. [cite web|url=http://syfyportal.com/news.php?id=2895|title=SyfyPortal Awards| accessdate=2007-02-15]

In 2008, she was awarded another Saturn Award for her performance as Cameron Phillips in "", [ [http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i39a618183fe30fd51e13541bc3fb7570] ] and was nominated for the Spike TV Scream Awards in the category "Best Actress in a Science Fiction Movie or TV Show" for the same role. [http://www.spike.com/event/scream/page/vote/category/28717]

Personal life

Glau revealed in April 2007 that she was once in a relationship with American actor Daniel Wisler.

Filmography

References

External links

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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=