| Summer Glau |

Summer Glau at a 2005 Serenity Flanvention. |
| Born |
Summer Lyn Glau
July 24, 1981 (1981-07-24) (age 28)
San Antonio, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation |
Actress |
| Years active |
2002–present |
Summer Lyn Glau (born July 24, 1981) is an American actress and dancer, known for playing River Tam in the science fiction series Firefly and follow-up movie Serenity, and for playing Cameron in the series Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
Biography
Early life
Glau was born in San Antonio, Texas, where she grew up with her two younger sisters. She is of Scots-Irish and German descent.1 Her mother is a schoolteacher 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 dancer4 and also studied tango and flamenco. After a serious ankle injury ended her dancing career,4 Glau later moved to Los Angeles in 2002 to pursue a more active acting career.
Career
Glau at CollectorMania 2007
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 ultimately 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 Pink Ranger on one of the Power Rangers series before meeting Joss Whedon.5
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 an essential 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 plays 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.
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.
On March 12, 2010, it was announced that she would be joining the cast of The Cape by NBC, in a leading role.7
Personal life
Summer Glau has been involved in a number of charities, such as B.C. Women's Hospital & Health Centre8 where she autographed several teddy bears to be sold on eBay to help raise money for the Hospital. Glau is an animal lover and has shown support to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles,9 where she hand-painted a decorative pet bowl that was later sold on eBay to raise funds. She was also a vegetarian from 1995 to 2005.10 Glau has trained in multiple forms of martial arts, including kung fu and kickboxing.10111213
Filmography
| Year |
Title |
Role |
Notes |
| 2002 |
Angel |
Prima Ballerina |
Television episode "Waiting in the Wings" |
| Firefly |
River Tam |
Television series, star, 14 episodes |
| 2003 |
| Cold Case |
Paige Pratt |
Television episode "Love Conquers Al" |
| 2004 |
Sleepover |
Ticket Girl |
Feature film |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation |
Mandy Cooper |
Television episode "What's Eating Gilbert Grissom?" |
| 2005 |
Serenity |
River Tam |
Feature film, star |
| 2006 |
Mammoth |
Jack |
Television film |
| The Initiation of Sarah |
Lindsey Goodwin |
Television film |
| 2006–2007 |
The Unit |
Crystal Burns |
Television episodes: "Extreme Rendition", "Force Majeure", "Report by Exception", "The Broom Cupboard", "Johnny B. Good", "The Water is Wide", "Outsiders" |
| The 4400 |
Tess Doerner |
Television episodes: "Wake Up Call", "The Ballad of Kevin and Tess", "Terrible Swift Sword", "Fifty-Fifty", "The Wrath of Graham", "Daddy's Little Girl", "Ghost in the Machine", "Tiny Machines" |
| 2008 |
Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles |
Cameron Phillips / Allison Young |
Television series, starring
Tied with Elizabeth Mitchell in winning the Saturn Award for Best Television Supporting Actress for portrayal of "Cameron". |
| 2009 |
| The Big Bang Theory |
Herself |
Television series, guest starring. Episode "The Terminator Decoupling" |
| Dollhouse |
Bennett Halverson |
Television series: recurring role14 |
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.15 She was also runner up for Best Actress/Movie in the SyFy Genre Awards for 2006.16
In 2008, she received the Best Supporting Television Actress award at the 34th Saturn Awards for her performance as Cameron Phillips in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles,17 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.18
References
- ^ "Summer Glau - About her career - Summer-glau.net Interview". Dollhouse, Firefly, Angel, Buffy. 16 April 2007. http://www.whedon.info/Summer-Glau-About-her-career.html.
- ^ "Summer Glau Biography". Film Reference. http://www.filmreference.com/film/29/Summer-Glau.html.
- ^ "Summer Glau Interview". The A.V. Club. 24 February 2008. http://www.avclub.com/content/interview/summer_glau. Retrieved 6 December 2008.
- ^ a b Clehane, Diane (October 2008). "Steal Summer Glau's Workout Tips". Women's Health. http://www.womenshealthmag.com/life/summer-glaus-workout-moves.
- ^ Huvane, Chris (September 2009). "Hot Summer". GQ. http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing?id=content_7463. Retrieved 29 November 2008.
- ^ Goldman, Eric (8 February 2007). "Serenity Comes to Sarah Connor". IGN. http://tv.ign.com/articles/762/762971p1.html. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
- ^ Andreeva, Nellie (12 March 2010). "Summer Glau moves to 'The Cape'". The Hollywood Reporter. http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/news/e3i8c42c2e07eaa0e329da4af178519443d.
- ^ "Online Auction – Bears that Care". BC Women's Hospital and Health Centre Foundation. March 2007. http://www.bcwomensfoundation.org/online_auction.php.
- ^ "spcaLA Day with the LA Kings Pre-Game Auction". spcaLA. http://spcala.com/special_events/kingsauction_08.shtml. dead link
- ^ a b "Dance of the telepathic space assassin". Telegraph.co.uk. 1 October 2005. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3646900/Dance-of-the-telepathic-space-assassin.html. Retrieved 18 February 2009.
- ^ Bond, Jeff (18 January 2008). "Summer Glau". Geek Monthly. http://geekmonthly.com/blog/?p=54.
- ^ Murray, Rebecca. "Summer Glau Talks About "Serenity"". About.com. http://movies.about.com/od/serenity/a/serentysg120604.htm.
- ^ "Summer Glau: Serenity's psychic reveals all" (PDF). Summer-Glau.net. http://www.summer-glau.net/pdf/09.pdf.
- ^ Adam Bryant (27 August 2009). "Summer Glau to Reunite With Whedon in Dollhouse". TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/News/Summer-Glau-Dollhouse-1009251.aspx. Retrieved 2009-08-27.
- ^ "And the winners are…". Saturn Awards. http://www.saturnawards.org/winners.html.
- ^ "Firefly, Harry Potter Sweep Genre Awards". Airlock Alpha. 1 October 2006. http://www.airlockalpha.com/node/2895. Retrieved 21 January 2010.
- ^ ""Enchanted" and "Lost are the big winners at the 34th Annual Saturn Awards". Saturn Awards. http://www.saturnawards.org/34_winners.doc.
- ^ http://www.spike.com/event/scream/page/vote/category/28717dead link
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Glau, Summer |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Actress |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
July 24, 1981 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
San Antonio, Texas |
| DATE OF DEATH |
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| PLACE OF DEATH |
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