Summer Glau Biography

Born in San Antonio, Texas, Summer Glau is the first of three daughters born to a general contractor father and a schoolteacher mother. Summer began training as a ballerina at a young age and by grade three, had to be home schooled so she could devote more hours of her day to dance training.

Although she began dancing professionally at the age of 12, an injury in her late teens forced her to take time off to heal. While visiting friends in Los Angeles, Summer landed her first acting job. She moved to Los Angeles permanently and after working in several commercials and regional theater productions, she was cast as a prima ballerina in the hit TV series Angel, created by Joss Whedon.

Whedon was so impressed by her performance that he cast her in the regular role of River in his new series, Firefly. Despite an enthusiastic fan base, the series was cancelled after just one season, and Summer moved on to guest appearances on Cold Case and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, as well as a small role in her film debut, Sleepover (2004).

Her second film would see her take a starring role however, when Firefly was picked up for a big screen continuation called Serenity (2005). She went on to win a Saturn award for her work in the film.

Although movie offers were few and far between, it was another story on television. Viewers have been able to see her participate on many series such as The Unit, The 4400, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Dollhouse and Arrow from 2006 to 2014. She slowed down her appearances in 2015, after giving birth to her first daughter.

In 2019, Summer made a quick comeback, playing a recurring role on two episodes of the first season of the Netflix action series Wu Assassins.

Summer lives in Los Angeles with her husband, actor Val Morrison, and their two daughters.

Filmography:

Serenity (2005)
Sleepover (2004)