Linda Carroll Hamilton (born September 26, 1956) is an American actress best known for her portrayal of Sarah Connor in The Terminator film series and Catherine Chandler in the 1987–1990 television series Beauty and the Beast, for which she was nominated for two Golden Globes and an Emmy. She also starred as Vicky in the horror film Children of the Corn. Hamilton had a recurring role as Mary Elizabeth Bartowski on NBC's Chuck.
Hamilton was born in Salisbury, Maryland. Hamilton's father, Carroll Stanford Hamilton, a physician, died when she was five, and her mother later married a police chief. Hamilton has an identical twin sister (Leslie Hamilton Gearren), one older sister and one younger brother. She has said that she was raised in a "very boring, white Anglo-Saxon" family, and “voraciously read books” during her spare time. Hamilton went to Wicomico Junior High (now Wicomico Middle School) and Wicomico High School in Salisbury, with Leslie, her twin. She studied for two years at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, before moving on to acting studies in New York City. Hamilton has said that her acting professor at Washington College told her she had no hope of earning a living as an actress. In New York, she attended acting workshops given by Lee Strasberg.