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Alien
In space, no one can hear you scream.
During its return to the earth, commercial spaceship Nostromo intercepts a distress signal from a distant planet. When a three-member team of the crew discovers a chamber containing thousands of eggs on the planet, a creature inside one of the eggs attacks an explorer. The entire crew is unaware of the impending nightmare set to descend upon them when the alien parasite planted inside its unfortunate host is birthed.
  • Released on 05/25/1979 (Movie)
  • 8.154 out of 10 (14496 votes on TMDB)
  • Horror / Science Fiction
  • Cast
  • Crew
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Headshot of Tom Skerritt
Tom Skerritt

Character's name: "Dallas"
Birthday: 08/25/1933
Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan, USA
Biography:
Thomas Roy Skerritt (born August 25, 1933) is an American actor who has appeared in more than forty films and more than two hundred television episodes since 1962. He is known for his film roles in M*A*S*H, Alien, The Dead Zone, Top Gun, A River Runs Through It, Up in Smoke, and the television series Picket Fences. Skerritt has earned several nominations and awards, including a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series in 1993 for Picket Fences. Description above from the Wikipedia article Tom Skerritt, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Headshot of Sigourney Weaver
Sigourney Weaver

Character's name: "Ripley"
Birthday: 10/08/1949
Birthplace: Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA
Biography:
Susan Alexandra "Sigourney" Weaver (born October 8, 1949) is an American actress. Weaver is considered to be a pioneer of action heroines in science fiction films. She is known for her role as Ellen Ripley in the Alien franchise, which earned her an Academy Award nomination in 1986 and is often regarded as one of the most significant female protagonists in cinema history. A seven-time Golden Globe Award nominee, Weaver won both Best Actress in Drama and Best Supporting Actress in 1988 for her work in the films Gorillas in the Mist and Working Girl, becoming the first person to win two acting Golden Globes in the same year. She also received Academy Award nominations for both films. For her role in the film The Ice Storm (1997), she won the BAFTA Award for Best Actress ina Supporting Role. She also received a Tony Award nomination for her work in the 1984 Broadway play Hurlyburly. Weaver's other film roles include Ghostbusters (1984), Ghostbusters II (1989), Dave (1993), Galaxy Quest (1999), Holes (2003), WALL-E (2008), Avatar (2009), Prayers for Bobby (2009), Paul (2011), The Cabin in the Woods (2012), and A Monster Calls (2016); and the television miniseries Political Animals (2012) and The Defenders (2017). Description above from the Wikipedia article Sigourney Weaver, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Headshot of Veronica Cartwright
Veronica Cartwright

Character's name: "Lambert"
Birthday: 04/20/1949
Birthplace: Bristol, England, UK
Biography:
Veronica Cartwright (born April 20, 1949) is a British-born American actress. She is known for appearing in science fiction and horror films, and has earned numerous accolades, including three Primetime Emmy Award nominations. Her younger sister is actress Angela Cartwright. As a child actress, Cartwright appeared in supporting roles in The Children's Hour and The Birds, the latter of which was her first commercial success. She made her transition into mainstream, mature roles with 1978's Invasion of the Body Snatchers. The following year, she played Lambert in the science-fiction horror film Alien, which earned her recognition and a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She additionally appeared in the films The Right Stuff and The Witches of Eastwick which earned her praise, and in the 1990s, received three nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series, one of which was for her role on ER and two of which were for her role in The X-Files. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Headshot of Harry Dean Stanton
Harry Dean Stanton

Character's name: "Brett"
Birthday: 07/14/1926
Date of Death: 09/15/2017
Birthplace: West Irvine, Kentucky, USA
Biography:
Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including Cool Hand Luke (1967), Kelly's Heroes (1970), Dillinger (1973), The Godfather Part II (1974), Alien (1979), Escape from New York (1981), Christine (1983), Repo Man (1984), One Magic Christmas (1985), Pretty in Pink (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Wild at Heart (1990), The Straight Story (1999), The Green Mile (1999), The Man Who Cried (2000), Alpha Dog (2006), and Inland Empire (2006). He had rare lead roles in Paris, Texas (1984) and in Lucky (2017). Description above from the Wikipedia article Harry Dean Stanton, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Headshot of John Hurt
John Hurt

Character's name: "Kane"
Birthday: 01/22/1940
Date of Death: 01/25/2017
Birthplace: Chesterfield, Derbyshire, England, UK
Biography:
Sir John Vincent Hurt (January 22, 1940 – January 25, 2017) was an English actor whose career spanned over five decades. He came to prominence for his role as Richard Rich in the film A Man for All Seasons (1966) and gained BAFTA Award nominations for his portrayals of Timothy Evans in 10 Rillington Place (1971) and Quentin Crisp in television film The Naked Civil Servant (1975) – winning his first BAFTA for the latter. He played Caligula in the BBC TV series I, Claudius (1976). Hurt's performance in the prison drama Midnight Express (1978) brought him international renown and earned Golden Globe and BAFTA Awards, along with an Academy Award nomination. His BAFTA-nominated portrayal of astronaut Kane, in the science-fiction horror film Alien (1979), notably included a scene where an alien creature burst out of his chest, named by several publications as one of the most memorable moments in cinema history. Hurt earned his third competitive BAFTA, along with his second Oscar and Golden Globe nominations, as Joseph Merrick in David Lynch's biopic The Elephant Man (1980). Other significant roles during the 1980s included Bob Champion in biopic Champions (1984), Mr. Braddock in the Stephen Frears drama The Hit (1984), Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984) and Stephen Ward in the drama depicting the Profumo affair, Scandal (1989). Hurt was again BAFTA-nominated for his work in Irish drama The Field (1990) and played the primary villain, James Graham, in the epic adventure Rob Roy (1995). His later films include the Harry Potter film series (2001–11), the Hellboy films (2004 and 2008), supernatural thriller The Skeleton Key (2005), western The Proposition (2005), political thriller V for Vendetta (2005), action adventure Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008), sci-fi action Outlander (2008) and the Cold War espionage film Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011). Hurt reprised his role as Quentin Crisp in An Englishman in New York (2009), which brought his seventh BAFTA nomination. He portrayed the War Doctor in the BBC TV series Doctor Who's 50th anniversary special, "The Day of the Doctor", in 2013. Hurt was regarded as one of Britain's finest actors; director David Lynch described him as "simply the greatest actor in the world". He possessed what was described as the "most distinctive voice in Britain", likened by The Observer to "nicotine sieved through dirty, moonlit gravel". His voice acting career encompassed films such as Watership Down (1978), The Lord of the Rings (1978), The Plague Dogs (1982), The Black Cauldron (1985), Dogville (2003) and Planet Dinosaur (2011) as well as BBC TV series Merlin (2008–2012). In 2012, he was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement BAFTA Award, in recognition of his "outstanding contribution to cinema". He was knighted in 2015 for his services to drama.

Headshot of Ian Holm
Ian Holm

Character's name: "Ash"
Birthday: 09/12/1931
Date of Death: 06/19/2020
Birthplace: Goodmayes, Essex, England, UK
Biography:
Sir Ian Holm Cuthbert CBE (September 12, 1931 – June 19, 2020) was an English actor. After beginning his career on the British stage as a leading member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, he became a successful and prolific performer on television and in films. He received numerous accolades including two BAFTA Awards and a Tony Award, along with nominations for an Academy Award and two Emmy Awards. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in 1989 by Queen Elizabeth II. Holm won the 1967 Tony Award for Best Featured Actor for his performance as Lenny in the Harold Pinter play The Homecoming. He won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance in the title role in the 1998 West End production of King Lear. For his television roles he received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations for King Lear (1998), and the HBO film The Last of the Blonde Bombshells (2003). He gained acclaim for his role in The Bofors Gun (1968) winning the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and a BAFTA Award win for his role as athletics trainer Sam Mussabini in Chariots of Fire (1981). Other notable films he appeared in include Alien (1979), Brazil (1985), Henry V (1989), The Madness of King George (1994), The Fifth Element (1997), The Sweet Hereafter (1997), and The Aviator (2004). He gained wider appreciation for his role as the elderly Bilbo Baggins in Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies. He also voiced Chef Skinner in the Pixar animated film Ratatouille (2007). Description above from the Wikipedia article Ian Holm, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Headshot of Yaphet Kotto
Yaphet Kotto

Character's name: "Parker"
Birthday: 11/16/1939
Date of Death: 03/15/2021
Birthplace: New York City, New York, U.S.A
Biography:
Yaphet Frederick Kotto (November 16, 1939 - March 15, 2021) was an American actor known for numerous film roles, as well as starring in the NBC television series Homicide: Life on the Street (1993-99) as Lieutenant Al Giardello. His films include the science-fiction and horror film Alien (1979), and the Arnold Schwarzenegger science-fiction and action film The Running Man (1987). He portrayed the main villain Dr. Kananga/Mr. Big in the James Bond movie Live and Let Die (1973). He appeared opposite Robert De Niro in the comedy thriller Midnight Run (1988) as FBI Agent Alonzo Mosley.

Headshot of Bolaji Badejo
Bolaji Badejo

Character's name: "Alien"
Birthday: 08/23/1953
Date of Death: 12/22/1992
Birthplace: Nigeria
Biography:
Bolaji Badejo was a Nigerian design student who portrayed the eponymous Alien in the 1979 film Alien. Alien was Badejo's only acting appearance. As a child, Badejo had been diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia. Several months after his 39th birthday, Bolaji fell ill and was taken to St. Stephen Hospital in Ebute Metta, Lagos, where he died on December 22, 1992 of complications from the disease. While at a bar in early 1977, Bolaji Badejo was approached by Alien casting director Peter Archer, who was scouting for someone suitably tall and thin to play the eponymous Alien. Ivor Powell, the film's associate producer, explained that "The person that put the suit on had to be impossibly tall. We wanted them to be incredibly long-limbed, especially from the waist to the knee." However, the production had reached an impasse casting their Alien. They tried various female models, a family of contortionists and even Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew.

Headshot of Helen Horton
Helen Horton

Character's name: "Mother (voice)"
Birthday: 09/28/1923
Date of Death: 09/28/2007
Birthplace: Chicago, Illinois, USA
Biography:
Helen Virginia Horton (November 21, 1923 – September 28, 2007) was an American actress. She was born in Chicago and had a brief career in New York. She married Hamish Thomson and lived near London. She worked extensively in British television, radio and theatre, and had three children; her granddaughter is the English actress Lily James. Horton voiced the ship's computer, "Mother", in the 1979 film Alien. Horton attended Northwestern University where she became lifelong friends with Patricia Neal (Helen Benson in The Day the Earth Stood Still). She was well thought of in the drama department and was cast as Viola, the lead role in Twelfth Night, with Neal cast as Olivia, in a university production of the Shakespeare play. In September 1945, Horton and Neal took a shared apartment in New York and looked for work. They both got parts in a production of Seven Mirrors at the Blackfriars Theatre. Horton took over from Vivien Leigh as Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire after the play's London run was completed and it began to tour the United Kingdom. When Neal mentioned the connection to Leigh, she remarked "No one takes over for me, dear. When I leave a play, it's over."


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Ridley Scott
Director

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Gordon Carroll
Producer

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David Giler
Producer

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Walter Hill
Producer

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Ronald Shusett
Executive Producer

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Dan O'Bannon
Screenplay

Production Companies