Actors - Gillian Anderson

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	Actors - Gillian Anderson

Gillian Leigh Anderson (born August 9, 1968) is an American actress, best known for her role as FBI Agent Dana Scully in the American TV series The X-Files and her role as Lady Dedlock in the BBC TV series Bleak House.

Early life

She was born in Chicago to Edward and Rosemary Anderson, who were both of English and Irish descent; soon after her birth her family moved to Puerto Rico for fifteen months and then to Crouch End in London. When she was eleven, her family moved again, this time to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she attended City Middle/High School, a program for gifted students with a strong emphasis on the humanities. With her English accent and background, she felt out of place in the American Midwest, and developed a reputation as a strong-willed and rebellious teenager. She had her nose pierced in the early 1980s, and dyed her hair various colors.

She found an outlet for her talents when she began acting in high school and community theater productions. She attended Goodman Theater School of Drama at DePaul University in Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990.

Career

Following some professional stage work, she "broke into" television. In 1993, she had a guest appearance on the collegiate drama Class of '96 on the fledgling Fox Network, and auditioned for the role of Dana Scully on The X-Files. There she met assistant art director Clyde Klotz , whom she married and with whom she had a daughter, Piper Maru, in 1994. (An alien-abduction storyline explained her brief absence from the series for delivery.) Anderson and Klotz later divorced. She had roles in a handful of films during the run of The X-Files and starred in The House of Mirth
, an adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel of the same name.

Since The X-Files ended, she has performed in several stage productions and worked on various film projects. She has also done narrative work for documentaries on scientific topics, in which the voice listeners recognize as "Agent Scully" lends an air of credible authority to the material. In 2005 she appeared as Lady Dedlock in a BBC television adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, had a starring role in the Irish film The Mighty Celt
and performed in a film version of the novel Tristram Shandy, released in January 2006.

Private life

In December 2004, Anderson married longtime partner Julian Ozanne, a documentary filmmaker, on Lamu's island of Shella, off the coast of Africa.

Other TV appearances

Future Fantastic as a presenter (unknown air dates)

Filmography

The Last King of Scotland
(Completed; to be released 2006), as "Sara Zach"
Straightheads
(Post-production; to be released November 2006 (TBC)), as "Alice"
Gellhorn: A Twentieth-Century Life (Announced - unknown release date)
Bleak House as "Lady Honoria Dedlock"
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story (2005)
The Mighty Celt
(2005), as "Kate"
The House of Mirth
(2000), as "Lily Bart"
Mononoke Hime (1997), aka Princess Mononoke
(English language version, 1999), voice, as "Moro"
Playing by Heart
(1998), as "Meredith"
The X-Files: Fight the Future
(1998), as "Dana Scully"
The Mighty (1998), as "Loretta Lee"
Chicago Cab, aka Hellcab (1998), as "Southside Girl" (or "Brenda")
The Turning (1992), as "April Cavanaugh"
A Matter of Choice (1988), B&W student production
Three at Once (1986), B&W student production, as "Woman 1"

List of stage appearances

The Sweetest Swing in Baseball (2004). World premiere at the Royal Court Theatre, Sloane Square, London.
What The Night Is For (2002-11-07 to 2003-02-09). This play ran at the Comedy Theatre in London, and was Anderson's West End debut.
The Vagina Monologues (1999)-(2000)
The Philanthropist (1992).
Absent Friends (1991). Long Wharf Theater. Won a Theatre World Award for Best Performance.
A Zoo Story (1986)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1983). City High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan, two performances, as "Officer Brophy".

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