American dancer and actress Summer Glau was born on July 24, 1981 in San Antonio, Texas. She started her screen career as a professional dancer, being a classically-trained ballerina, as well as being trained in tango and flamenco. These talents gave her roles in several television commercials. Her screen debut came in 2002, when she starred as a ballerina in one episode of Angel. Here she caught the attention of director Joss Whedon, who gave her a role in the science fiction series Firefly.
Glau played the role of River Tam, the highly intelligent sister of medical researcher Simon Tam (Sean Maher). She was sent to a government learning facility, The Academy, which was believed to be a place for her to nurture her intellectual talents; however, it was a government experiment to create the perfect assassin, and River left with the inability to control her emotions, as well as delusions, paranoia and insanity. The short-lived series saw her in a journey of self-discovery. When the series was cancelled, fan clamor led to the production of the film Serenity, which saw Glau reprise the role—River is now considered a fugitive by the Alliance, and is seen as a strong, intelligent fighter.
Glau’s other major television roles include one on The Unit, where she played Jeremy Erhart’s (Daniel Wisler) girlfriend Crystal Burns; and in The 4400, as the paranoid schizophrenic Tess Doerner. She then took on a major role in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, where she plays a new kind of Terminator, only known as Cameron Phillips. Assigned to protect John Connor (Thomas Dekker), her type has an improved ability to mimic human emotions and behaviors, and is also the first type of Terminator to be able to eat human food. In 2008, Glau won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress for this performance.