Linda Carroll Hamilton was born on September 26, 1956 Salisbury, Maryland, USA. She is an American movie actress.

Hamilton starred opposite Ron Perlman in the TV series Beauty and the Beast. Her first parts where small parts in TV series, with her biggest break coming with her role in Terminator (1984) and Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

Due to the success of the Terminator series, Hamilton hosted Saturday Night Live. She then returned to television in A Mother's Prayer playing a mother who lost her husband and is diagnosed with AIDS. She earned yet another Golden Globe nomination. That same year, Hamilton filmed two motion pictures, Shadow Conspiracy and Dante's Peak.

Hamilton has since appeared on Frasier and has done more TV movies, including On the Line, Robots Rising, Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples, Point Last Seen, and The Color of Courage.

Hamilton has been married and divorced three times. Her first marriage was to actor Peter Horton, from 1979 to 1980. Her second marriage was to Bruce Abbott, from 1982 to 1989. Her third marriage was to film director James Cameron from 1997 to 1999. They divorced after Linda discovered he was having an affair with actress Suzy Amis during the making of the movie Titanic, the end result of that affair netted Linda an 80 million dollar divorce settlement.

Filmography

• Home by Christmas (2007)
• Broken (2007)
• "Thief" (2 episodes, 2006)
• In Your Dreams (2006)
• The Kid & I (2005)
• "According to Jim" (2 episodes, 2005)
• Missing in America (2005)
• Smile (2005)
• Jonah (2004)
• Wholey Moses (2003)
• Silent Night (2002)
• Skeletons in the Closet (2001)
• Bailey's Mistake (2001)
• A Girl Thing (2001)
• "Buzz Lightyear of Star Command" (3 episodes, 2000)
• Sex & Mrs. X (2000)
• Batman Beyond: The Movie (1999)
• The Secret Life of Girls (1999)
• "Hercules" (2 episodes, 1998-1999)
• "Batman Beyond" (1 episode, 1999)
• The Color of Courage (1999)
• Point Last Seen (1998)
• "The New Batman Adventures" (1 episode, 1998)
• Rescuers: Stories of Courage: Two Couples (1998)
• Robots Rising (1998)
• On the Line (1998)
• "Frasier" (2 episodes, 1993-1997)
• Dante's Peak (1997)
• Shadow Conspiracy (1997)
• T2 3-D: Battle Across Time (1996)
• Separate Lives (1995)
• A Mother's Prayer (1995)
• The Way to Dusty Death (1995)
• Silent Fall (1994)
• "Saturday Night Live" (1 episode, 1991)
• Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
• Mr. Destiny (1990)
• "Beauty and the Beast" (55 episodes, 1987-1990)
• Go Toward the Light (1988)
• King Kong Lives (1986)
• "Murder, She Wrote" (1 episode, 1986)
• Club Med (1986)
• Black Moon Rising (1986)
• Secret Weapons (1985)
• The Terminator (1984)
• The Stone Boy (1984)
• Children of the Corn (1984)
• "Hill Street Blues" (4 episodes, 1984)
• Secrets of a Mother and Daughter (1983)
• Wishman (1983)
• "King's Crossing" (1982)
• Country Gold (1982)
• Tag: The Assassination Game (1982)
• "Secrets of Midland Heights" (2 episodes, 1980-1981)
• Rape and Marriage: The Rideout Case (1980)
• Reunion (1980)
• Night-Flowers (1979)

Awards

• Golden Satellite Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television "The Color of Courage" 1999
• CableACE Award Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries "A Mother's Prayer" 1995
• MTV Movie Award Best Female Performance "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" 1992
• MTV Movie Award Most Desirable Female "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" 1992