GENA ROWLANDS
Name: Gena Rowlands.
Birth name: Virginia Cathryn Rowlands
Born: 19 June 1930 Cambria, Wisconsin, USA
Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress who has twice been
nominated for an Academy Award, and has won three Emmy Awards for her
performances.
Rowlands was born Virginia Cathryn Rowlands in Madison, Wisconsin, and was
raised in Cambria, Wisconsin. Her father, Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, was a banker
and a state legislator, and her mother, Mary Allen (née Neal), was a painter
and housewife originally from Arkansas. The family moved to Washington, D.C.
in 1939 when Edwin was appointed to a position in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1942 when he was appointed as branch
manager of the Office of Price Administration, and later to Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Gena attended the University of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1950, where
she was a popular student already renowned for her beauty. She left for New
York City to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Rowlands went from understudy to lead role in the original Broadway production
of The Seven Year Itch. She opened and starred in Middle of the Night (1956)
opposite film icon Edward G. Robinson.
She made her film debut in The High Cost of Loving in 1958. She guest starred in
several anthology television series, including Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft
Television Theatre and Studio One, among many others. In 1961 she starred in the
well-received television series 87th Precinct, and in 1964 in Peyton Place.
Teaming with her husband, writer and director John Cassavetes, whom she married
in 1954, Rowlands starred in many productions, including Staccato, A Child Is
Waiting, Faces, Gloria (nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress), Love
Streams, Minnie and Moskowitz, She's So Lovely, and A Woman Under the Influence
(Academy Award nomination for Best Actress). She starred in The Neon Bible.
In 1985, Rowlands played the mother in the critically acclaimed made-for-TV
movie An Early Frost. In recent years, she has appeared in Paulie and in Mira
Nair's HBO movie, Hysterical Blindness for which she won her third Emmy.
She was recently seen in The Notebook, which was directed by her son, Nick
Cassavetes, and co-starred James Garner, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. In
2004 she won her first Daytime Emmy for her role as Mrs. Evelyn Ritchie in The
Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. To name a few, Ms. Rowlands has been nominated for: two
Academy Awards; six Emmy nominations, and one Daytime Emmy; eight Golden Globes;
three Satellite Awards; and one SAG Award. Some of her notable wins include: a
Silver Berlin Bear; three Emmy Awards and one Daytime Emmy; two Golden Globes;
two National Board of Review Awards; two Satellite Awards; and one Prize San
Sebastián.
In 2005, she appeared opposite Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt in
the gothic thriller The Skeleton Key.
Name: Gena Rowlands.
Birth name: Virginia Cathryn Rowlands
Born: 19 June 1930 Cambria, Wisconsin, USA
Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress who has twice been
nominated for an Academy Award, and has won three Emmy Awards for her
performances.
Rowlands was born Virginia Cathryn Rowlands in Madison, Wisconsin, and was
raised in Cambria, Wisconsin. Her father, Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, was a banker
and a state legislator, and her mother, Mary Allen (née Neal), was a painter
and housewife originally from Arkansas. The family moved to Washington, D.C.
in 1939 when Edwin was appointed to a position in the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1942 when he was appointed as branch
manager of the Office of Price Administration, and later to Minneapolis,
Minnesota. Gena attended the University of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1950, where
she was a popular student already renowned for her beauty. She left for New
York City to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Rowlands went from understudy to lead role in the original Broadway production
of The Seven Year Itch. She opened and starred in Middle of the Night (1956)
opposite film icon Edward G. Robinson.
She made her film debut in The High Cost of Loving in 1958. She guest starred in
several anthology television series, including Robert Montgomery Presents, Kraft
Television Theatre and Studio One, among many others. In 1961 she starred in the
well-received television series 87th Precinct, and in 1964 in Peyton Place.
Teaming with her husband, writer and director John Cassavetes, whom she married
in 1954, Rowlands starred in many productions, including Staccato, A Child Is
Waiting, Faces, Gloria (nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress), Love
Streams, Minnie and Moskowitz, She's So Lovely, and A Woman Under the Influence
(Academy Award nomination for Best Actress). She starred in The Neon Bible.
In 1985, Rowlands played the mother in the critically acclaimed made-for-TV
movie An Early Frost. In recent years, she has appeared in Paulie and in Mira
Nair's HBO movie, Hysterical Blindness for which she won her third Emmy.
She was recently seen in The Notebook, which was directed by her son, Nick
Cassavetes, and co-starred James Garner, Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams. In
2004 she won her first Daytime Emmy for her role as Mrs. Evelyn Ritchie in The
Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. To name a few, Ms. Rowlands has been nominated for: two
Academy Awards; six Emmy nominations, and one Daytime Emmy; eight Golden Globes;
three Satellite Awards; and one SAG Award. Some of her notable wins include: a
Silver Berlin Bear; three Emmy Awards and one Daytime Emmy; two Golden Globes;
two National Board of Review Awards; two Satellite Awards; and one Prize San
Sebastián.
In 2005, she appeared opposite Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt in
the gothic thriller The Skeleton Key.