Profile: Her bicep could crush your skull like a walnut. A blast from her cocked-with-one-arm shotgun could take you down faster than an artificially intelligent computer-controlled killing machine from the year 2029. Hell, even her 1997 death from terminal cancer couldn't keep this badass down; Sarah now stars in a beloved TV show, and her presence will be felt in this summer's "Terminator Salvation."

When Linda Hamilton first signed on to play Sarah Connor in the early '80s, however, it seemed like a standard damsel-in-distress role in a small ($6.5 million budget) sci-fi film. Twenty-five years later, the character is a central part of a blockbuster franchise that now produces "The Sarah Connor Chronicles" at a cost of several million dollars per episode, as well this summer's $200 million-plus "Terminator: Salvation."