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 ''Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

Biography

Early life

Glau was born and grew up in San Antonio, Texas. She is of Scottish, Irish, and German descent.

Career

Glau was classically trained as a ballerina 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 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. 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 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. 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. She was also runner up for Best Actress/Movie in the SyFy Genre Awards for 2006.

In 2008, she was awarded another Saturn Award for her performance as Cameron Phillips in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 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.

Personal life

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

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-Present	Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles	Cameron Phillips / Allison Young	Television series, star

References

External links