Sarah Connor is one of the most iconic characters in modern cinema and it is a character that made Linda Hamilton a famous woman in the late 80s through to the 90s. Unfortunately, mental health problems derailed what would have been an exceptional career. She’s currently expected to reprise the iconic role in the sixth installment of the series. Even though Sarah Connor is a familiar name, not many young ones know who Linda Hamilton is. So, for more information about her such as her professional history, her personal life, and net worth, read below.
Who is Linda Hamilton?
One of the standout facts about Linda Hamilton is that she’s a twin. She’s the second half of twin daughters born to her mother, Barbara K. Holt, along with one older sister and younger brother. Linda Hamilton lost her physician father, Carroll Stanford Hamilton in a car accident when she was five. She often describes her childhood as a boring one, where she spent her time reading books. She was born in Salisbury, Maryland on September 26, 1956. For her education, the actress attended Wicomico High School and spent two years at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland.
No one knows exactly how acting caught Hamilton’s interest, perhaps it was an attempt to escape the boring early life she had. A young Linda majored in acting at Washington College but left the school after one of her professors told her she lacked the talent to earn a living as an actress. As a woman who was willing to bet on herself, she moved to New York and took acting classes, learning under the director, Lee Strasberg.
The classes by Lee Strasberg paid off; she got her first major role in Television playing Lisa Rogers in Secrets of Midland Heights in January 1981. She made her first film feature in TAG: The Assassination Game. Her performance in the movie drew the attention of critics and studios to her talents.
As a result of the critical acclaim of her role in TAG, she was offered a lead role in Children of the Corri, a Stephen King story adaptation, and although it was heavily criticized by critics, it made $14 million at the box office. After Children of the Corri, Hamilton landed one of the roles that would define her career in 1984, she was cast as Sarah Connor in The Terminator, fully establishing herself as a movie star and giving the metaphorical middle finger to her Washington College professor who had said she had no talent.
Usually, when an actor finds success in feature films, they stick to making more feature films, in order to milk the success of their previous hit, but that wasn’t Linda. She returned to the medium that brought her into the limelight immediately after The Terminator, returning to star in the television show, Beauty and the Beast alongside Ron Perlman. Thankfully, the show wasn’t a dud and her performances on it earned her an Emmy nomination.
Linda Hamilton sort of became the female action star of the late 80s and early 90s due to her appearance in the sequel of The Terminator. It was a status that fit the sacrifice she made during the filming of the movie, suffering a permanent hearing loss in one ear.
During the early stages of her career, she appeared alongside actors like Michael Caine and Michael Biehn, Charlie Sheen, and Pierce Brosnan.
So far, she’s appeared in over 20 movies and 20 Television Shows. Her most recent works include recurring roles in Chuck as Mary Bartowski and as Pilar McCawley in Defiance. She is set to return to the Terminator franchise to reprise her role as Sarah Connor alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Outside of acting, Linda Hamilton has been a vocal voice when it comes to politics. She is a registered Democrat, although she voted for Arnold, a Republican in the 2003 California Governorship poll.
Linda’s career has seen her get nominated for several awards, winning a few of them too. She was also named in a few lists, including a 1990 appearance in PEOPLE Magazine’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World.
Net Worth
From a career that saw box office hits like the terminator, one would be right to assume that Linda Hamilton made a tidy sum from her career and the influence she has garnered so far. True to her worth, The star actress’s worth has been estimated to be a whopping $70 million which is no small feat. But most importantly, that figure is about to skyrocket because there is no doubt that reprising her role as Sarah Connor will pay well.
Linda Hamilton as James Cameron’s Ex-Wife
Linda has gotten married twice and both marriages have ended in divorces. Her marriage to her first husband, Bruce Abbott lasted for seven years from 1982 to 1989. The marriage ended due to Hamilton’s physical and emotional abuse of Bruce which forced him to walk out of the marriage. At the time they quit the union, Hamilton was pregnant with their only child, Dalton.
Shortly after her divorce from Bruce, the beautiful blonde was in a relationship again with director, James Cameron. The couple started dating in 1991 and had a child, Josephine in 1993. They got married in 1997 but it ended in 1999. Linda describes her mental issues, depression, and bipolar disorder as a result of the breakdown of her marriages and the stall in her career. Since she identified her issues, she’s been receiving therapy to manage the condition.
Twin Sister
As mentioned earlier, Linda has a twin sister named Leslie Hamilton. The twin sisters are identical and this was taken advantage of in Terminator 2: Judgement Day where Leslie played Linda’s body double because Linda had to get muscular for the role.
