Gillian Anderson Biography

Gillian Anderson Wins Emmy

Gillian Anderson earned an Emmy tonight in the Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series category for her role as Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher in The Crown. This is her second Emmy win, her first win being in 1997 for her role as Dana Scully in The X Files. “I really want to dedicate this award to a woman who was my manager for 20 years, Connie Freiberg, who believed in me when no one else would, and believed I had talent when I didn’t even think I had talent, who always advised me to take the high road,” said Anderson. “Connie, I Love you, this is for you.”

Famous For

• Being an American actress.
• For starring alongside David Duchovny, portraying FBI agent Dana Scully on the television series “The X-Files”.

What is Gillian Anderson Real Name?

Gillian Anderson opened her eyes for the very first time on 9th August 1968 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. She took birth with the real name of Gillian Leigh Anderson in a mixed ethnic background family as she has English, Irish, and German ancestry. She is of American nationality. She is non-religious, however, she believes in Buddhist / Spiritual values. Similarly, Gillian’s present age is 53 which she celebrated recently in 2021. Thus, her race is white and her zodiac sign is Leo. Her father, Homer Edward Anderson III aka Ed is a Post-production Company Owner and her mother, Rosemary Alyce nee Lane aka Posie is a Computer Analyst. She is the eldest of three siblings. Her brother Aaron who was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis died in 2011 of a brain tumor, at the age of 30. Aaron was a DJ, a mentor, and a practicing Buddhist. He was in his second year of a Ph.D. program in developmental psychology at Stanford University when he was diagnosed with glioblastoma in 2008. Her sister Zoe is a ceramicist, whom Anderson called “an exceptional artist”.

Talking about Gillian’s education, she was interested in marine biology, but after becoming interested in theatre during her teenage years, she started acting in high school productions during her first year and later in community theatre. She served as a student intern at the Grand Rapids Civic Theatre & School of Theatre Arts. After graduating from high school in 1986, she attended The Theatre School at DePaul University in Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 1990.

What does Gillian Anderson do for a living?

• Gillian Anderson kicks off her career in Alan Ayckbourn’s play “Absent Friends” after which she starred in Christopher Hampton’s play “The Philanthropist”.
• Then she broke into mainstream television in 1993 with a guest appearance on the collegiate drama, “Class of ’96”, on the fledgling Fox Network as well as starred in the series “The X-Files” as she was the first woman to write and direct an episode of “The X-Files” (“all things”).
• She appeared in “The X-Files: Fight the Future” in 1998 and also provided the voice for a parody of her Scully character in “The Springfield Files”, an episode of the animated comedy television series “The Simpsons”.

• She narrated the television documentaries “Spies Above” and “Why Planes Go Down” in 1996.
• She also helped to assemble an album of electronic music, “Future: A Journey Through The Electronic Underground”.
• She starred in the film “The House of Mirth” in 2000 and made her West End debut in Michael Weller’s play “What The Night Is For” at the Comedy Theatre in 2002.
• Also, she had a starring role in the Irish film “The Mighty Celt” and she also appeared in “Bleak House”.
• During 2006 and 2007, Gillian appeared in two British films: “The Last King of Scotland” (2006) and “Straightheads” (2007).
• She hosted “Masterpiece Theatre” during the Jane Austen series in 2008 and became the first woman to host the series since it began in 1971.
• Anderson appeared as the head of MI7, Pamela Thornton, in the British comedy “Johnny English Reborn” in 2011 and then appeared in a Swiss drama film, “Sister”, and in “Shadow Dancer” in 2012.
• She began starring as DSI Stella Gibson in “The Fall” in May 2013 and became an executive producer for the program from its second series.
• In February 2015, she directed and starred in a short film prequel to “A Streetcar Named Desire”, titled “The Departure”.
• Likewise, she has starred in several films and TV series such as “Hannibal”, “Robot Overlords”, “War & Peace”, “Viceroy’s House”,  “American Gods”, “Crooked House”, “All About Eve” and many others.
• She published her first book, “A Vision of Fire” in October 2014 which is the first novel of what has developed as The Earthend Saga trilogy whereas Anderson and Rovin also published “The Sound of Seas”; their third and final novel of “The EarthEnd Saga” trilogy on 13th September 2016.
• As well, she and the journalist-activist Jennifer Nadel published their self-help guidebook for women, titled “WE: A Manifesto for Women Everywhere” on 7th March 2017.
• Later in January 2018, she confirmed that she would be leaving “The X-Files” after the end of the season, and in January 2019, she began playing Jean Milburn in the Netflix dramedy “Sex Education”.