Gillian Anderson Biography
Date of Birth
Gillian Leigh Anderson
Height
5' 2" (1.57 m)
Gillian Anderson started her career as a member of an amateur actor group while at high school. In 1987, her love of the theatre took her to the National Theatre of Great Britain Summer Acting Programme held at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. For several weeks she studied under such NT greats as Peter Chelsom, Bardy Thomas, and Michael Joyce. Afterwards, Anderson returned to the Goodman Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois where she finished her education. Her big break came with"The X-Files" (1993) (with David Duchovny) as Dana Scully. There, she met her future husband (Clyde Klotz), marrying on January 1st 1994. One month later, Gillian was pregnant. Her daughter, Piper Anderson, was born on the 25th September 1994. Her film career started with the movie The Turning (1992) in 1997 and, the following year, she starred in Playing by Heart(1998) with Sean Connery, Ellen Burstyn, Angelina Jolie and Dennis Quaid. Spouse
Trivia
Chosen by "People" magazine as one of the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World. [1997]
Was married to first husband Clyde Klotz on the 17th hole of a golf course in Hawaii by a Buddhist priest. Hair is naturally blonde, it was dyed and styled into the famous bob by Malcolm Marsden, who was immortalised as the British MP in the episode "Fire". Daughter of Edward Anderson, who owned a film post-production company, and Rosemary Anderson (née Lane), a computer analyst, she has a younger brother, Aaron, and a younger sister, Zoe Anderson. Younger brother suffers from neurofibromatosis and she has done work to encourage government to increase funding for reasearch.
Has size seven feet.
Was voted "Most Likely to be Arrested" by her classmates in high school, and was, in fact, arrested on graduation night for trying to glue the locks shut at her high school.
In high school, was voted "Class Clown" and "Most Bizarre Girl".
Lived in London, England, from age 2 to age 11, then moved to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where she was teased for her English accent.
Went to the Goodman Theater School of Drama at DePaul University in Chicago, where she earned a degree in fine arts. One of her classmates was Nina Siemaszko. Gained her first real break when she replaced Mary-Louise Parker in the play "The Philanthropist." Told "The X-Files" (1993) executives that she was 27 so that she would appear more credible as an FBI agent with a medical degree. Kept her daughter, Piper, completely hidden from the public until they both appeared in Joan Ostin's book, "Celebrity Moms" and the April 2001 issue of "In Style Magazine".
Graduated from City High School, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Piper Maru, her daughter, was the inspiration for the title of an "The X-Files" (1993) episode introducing the famous black oil in the series. Engaged to photojournalist Julian Ozanne. Wedding was planned for September 2003 during a safari ceremony in Kenya, but was delayed for over a year. Standing at just 5' 3", she has to stand on an apple box to shoot many scenes in "The X-Files" (1993). Measurements: 34C-25-35 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine)
[December 29 2004] Married her long-term boyfriend Julian Ozanne on Lamu's Shella Island, off the coast of Kenya. As a teen, her favorite bands included Skinny Puppy and Dead Kennedys.
In 2003, she won the Whatsonstage.com Theatregoers' Choice Best Actress Award for her West End debut in Michael Weller's two-hander, What the Night Is For.
Presented the best designer award at the 51st Evening Standard Theatre Awards (2005).
Is an avid art collector. Her collection includes work from such artists as Diane Arbus, Francesco Clemente and Kiki Smith.
Friends with New Orleans musician/inventor Quintron. Return to work on "The X-Files" (1993) 10 days after she gave birth to Piper Maru. Parents left US for London when she was 2. The family moved back to the US when she was 11. She relocated to London again, as an adult, in 2002. As of May 2006, she still lives there with her daughter.
Of the 5 actresses nominated for an Emmy as "Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie" in 2006, she was the only one who hasn't been nominated for an Oscar
At age 38, she gave birth to her second child. Son, Oscar was born in London on November 1, 2006 weighing in at 6 lbs, 8 oz. Oscar was born 3 weeks early and had some health issues, requiring a stay in the NICU. Dad is Gillian's partner Mark Griffiths.
Chosen by Australian men magazine Zoo weekly as one of the "Top 50 Hottest Babes Ever". [March 2006]
Youngest actress - at the age of 29 years old in 1997 - to win Outstanding Lead Actress in a Primetime Drama Series Emmy Award since Lindsay Wagner won at the age of 28 in 1977.
Was the first woman to host Masterpiece which began in 1971.
Ranked #23 on Wizard magazine's Sexiest Women of TV list (March 2008).
Third child, a boy named Felix Griffiths born October 15th 2008. Father is Mark Griffiths.
Partner of Mark Griffiths [2006 - present] 2 sons.
Third child, son Felix Griffiths, was born on October 15, 2008. He weighed 6 lbs. 15 oz.
In 1996, Anderson was voted the "Sexiest Woman in the World" by FHM's "100 Sexiest Women" poll.In 1996 she received an offer to appear on the cover and pose nude for Playboy Magazine. According to an interview to FHM magazine, she was offered an impressive amount of money to take off her clothes, but Gillian refused it "I turned it down. But it was very flattering" she said.
Became pregnant twice during her marriage to Julian Ozanne; she suffered both a miscarriage and an ectopic pregnancy. Personal Quotes
About her role as Agent Scully in "The X-Files" (1993)] I am more spontaneous than my character . . . interview in "Movieline" magazine, Dec. 1998] Fame is complicated and definitely overrated. There are perks to it that are unfathomable. But the other aspect is there's little to no privacy at all - being anywhere at any time and knowing that somebody you cannot see is probably taking a picture of you, which has happened hundreds of times. I look around and cannot see anyone and a couple of weeks later I see a photo of me looking around.
When I think of normal, I think of mediocrity . . . and mediocrity scares the f*ck out of me!
It's easier to be myself here. I can go out wearing whatever the hell I want, no matter how ridiculous it looks. If I do that in America, people look at me like I'm insane. There are aspects of the British press which are incredibly intrusive, but then you'll go to a premiere and someone will ask permission to take a photo, and when you say, "That's enough", they'll back off. In the States, you go to a restaurant and there are people lined up outside with 8x10s of you. Or they just follow you with a video camera. I had someone deliberately rear-end my car a few years ago in L.A., and there was a video camera: they were videoing my reaction. Luckily, I was in a good mood.
I know people who are embarrassed to be American. They don't like showing their passports. It's becoming a scary place. It takes someone very brave not to be quiet, someone who doesn't mind death threats, their life being turned upside down, news cameras outside their door. There is no freedom of speech in America anymore. They are not living up to the constitution. There's so much fear in America and control.
My tendency is towards the opposite of health and taking care of myself. My natural tendency is destructive. In order not to act on that, I have to be careful. The minute I don't feel like that, if I let down my guard, I'm in trouble.
I often showed up ungroomed. It didn't occur to me. Then I'd end up at a premiere and I'd think, what are you doing? I remember being at a restaurant with a famous British actress. I knew there were paparazzi outside. My intention was to make a beeline for the car. But then, as we were walking outside, she applied lipstick. I thought, what is she doing? But her public image is very glamorous. It's a different mindset.
I don't show my face [in L.A.] very much, and so that makes it a bit more complicated for me in terms of work. They [producers] need to see you in the press, and in their face, in meetings, auditions, whatever. And as far as they're concerned, I haven't provided enough of an example of the kind of things that I can do, as an actor, for them to justify hiring me without me sitting down in front of them or having me dance around.
I don't usually like seeing things I'm in. I get really depressed afterward.
I walked in thinking, it's going to be like riding a bicycle. It wasn't. It was like riding a unicycle. I'd been trying so hard to stretch myself in other roles, and to catch myself when I did anything that remotely resembles Scully, that when I was put back in the ring with her, my brain started misfiring. [quoted in The New York Times, July 13, 2008, on how unexpectedly hard it was for her to get back in character as Scully for the movie The X Files: I Want to Believe (2008) five years after the end of the television series.] Salary
Where Are They Now
(April 2004) Starring in Rebecca Gilman's play, "The Sweetest Swing In Baseball", at the Royal Court Theater in England. (November 2006) Living in London with her boyfriend, Mark Griffiths and their newborn son, Oscar
(May 2009) Starring in a Zinnie Harris version of Henrik Ibsen's "A Doll's House", at the Donmar Warehouse Theatre in London. Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson 
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson
Gillian Anderson Kiss 
