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New York City is a place that attracts people from all over the world. As a result, we’ve seen quite a few famous faces come out of the city or settle down to make their homes there. Here’s a spotlight on just one of those celebrity personalities.

Sigourney Weaver - Yes, one of the most iconic women in all of sci-fi is indeed from New York City. Born in Manhattan, her mother was an actress and her father an executive at NBC, so it was only natural that Weaver should gravitate toward acting as a career. She didn’t actually begin acting until college, however, avoiding the usual child acting that marks most famous folks’ rise to fame. Weaver attended both Stanford and Yale, earning a degree in drama.

Eventually, she would begin to get small roles, standing beside some of the best actors of the time. When 1979 arrived, Weaver took her place in history by playing Ellen Ripley in Alien. She was nominated for an Academy Award in the 1986 sequel, Aliens - a nomination that would forever change the way people viewed the science fiction genre. Weaver later went on to prove she could do more than just sci-fi by getting more nominations for Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl.

This amazing actress has continued to bounce back and forth between science fiction and more “traditional” dramatic roles, though most will forever remember her as the gun-toting heroine in the Alien franchise. And all this talent came straight out of New York City.

Photo courtesy of BrokenSphere via Wikicommons