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Virginia Cathryn " Gena" Rowlands (; June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress, whose career in film, stage, and television spanned nearly seven decades. She was a four-time Emmy Award and two-time Golden Globe winner, and she was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress.
She rose to prominence for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both of which earned her Oscar nominations. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977). Her other notable roles included William Friedkin's The Brink's Job (1978), Woody Allen's Another Woman (1988), Jim Jarmusch's Night on Earth (1991), Mira Nair's Hysterical Blindness (2002), and her son Nick Cassavetes's The Notebook (2004).
In 2021, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said, "The most important and original movie actor of the past half century-plus is Gena Rowlands." In November 2015, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in recognition of her unique screen performances.
Her family moved to Washington, D.C., in 1939, when Edwin was appointed to a position in the United States Department of Agriculture; moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1942, when he was appointed branch manager of the Office of Price Administration;"OPA Directed by Merwyn Rowlands," The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, April 2, 1942, p. 4 and later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. From 1947 to 1950, she attended the University of Wisconsin,Registrar's Office, University of Wisconsin–Madison. where she was a popular student already renowned for her beauty."Six U.W. Co-eds 'Badger Beauties'", The Sheboygan Press, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, November 14, 1949, p. 2 While in college, she was a member of Kappa Kappa Gamma. University of Wisconsin Badger, 1950 She left for New York City to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
Rowlands costarred with Paul Stewart in the 26-episode syndicated TV series Top Secret (1954–55). She guest-starred on such anthology television series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Studio One, Appointment with Adventure, The United States Steel Hour, and Goodyear Television Playhouse, all in 1955. In 1959, Rowlands appeared in the Western series Laramie, alongside her husband John Cassavetes in the detective series Johnny Staccato, and in the Western series Riverboat, starring Darren McGavin. In 1961, she appeared in the adventure series The Islanders, set in the South Pacific, and in , starring Stephen McNally. She guest-starred in The Lloyd Bridges Show, the detective series 77 Sunset Strip, Kraft Suspense Theatre, the Westerns Bonanza and The Virginian, and Breaking Point, all in 1963. In 1964, she guest-starred in the medical drama Dr. Kildare and in two episodes of Burke's Law. She appeared in four episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, three of which were after the series had been renamed The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. In 1967, she was cast as socialite Adrienne Van Leyden in the prime-time ABC soap opera Peyton Place.
Rowlands made her film debut in The High Cost of Loving in 1958. In 1962, she starred in director David Miller's Lonely Are the Brave, with Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau. She played the former lover of the Kirk Douglas character, now the wife of the Douglas character's best friend.
According to Boston University film scholar Ray Carney, Rowlands sought to suppress an early version of Cassavetes's first film, Shadows, that Carney says he rediscovered after decades of searching. Rowlands also became involved in the screenings of Husbands and Love Streams, according to Carney. The UCLA Film and Television Archive mounted a restoration of Husbands, as it was pruned down (without Cassavetes's consent, and in violation of his contract) by Columbia Pictures several months after its release, in an attempt to restore as much of the removed content as possible. At Rowlands's request, UCLA created an alternative print with almost ten minutes of content edited out, as Rowlands felt that these scenes were in poor taste. The alternative print is the only one that has been made available for rental.
In 1988, Rowlands starred in Woody Allen's dramatic film Another Woman. She played Marion Post, a middle-aged professor who is prompted to a journey of self-discovery when she overhears the therapy sessions of another woman (Mia Farrow). The review in Time Out described the character's trajectory: "Marion gets to thinking, and is appalled to realise that so many assumptions about her own life and marriage are largely unfounded: in her desire for a controlled existence, she has evaded the emotional truth about relationships with her best friend (Sandy Dennis), brother (Harris Yulin) and husband (Ian Holm)." Time Out praised the "marvellous" performances in the film, adding, "Rowlands' perfectly pitched approach to a demanding role is particularly stunning." Film4 called her performance "sublime", while Roger Ebert noted that it marked a considerable change in tone from her work with Cassavetes, thus showing "how good an actress Rowlands has been all along."
In 1995, Rowlands appeared as Julia Roberts's mother in the comedy-drama film Something to Talk About, and in 1998, she played Sandra Bullock's mother in the dramatic film Hope Floats. In 2002, Rowlands appeared in Mira Nair's HBO movie Hysterical Blindness, for which she won her third Emmy.
In 2004, she starred as the older version of Rachel McAdams's character in the romantic drama film The Notebook alongside James Garner as her husband, which was directed by her son Nick Cassavetes. The same year, she won her first Daytime Emmy for her role as Mrs. Evelyn Ritchie in the made-for-TV movie The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie. In 2005, she appeared opposite Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt in the gothic novel thriller The Skeleton Key. The next year she appeared as Mrs. Hellman in an episode from the third season of Numb3rs. She played a Nazi survivor whose whole family was killed. The family owned a painting that the Nazis confiscated. Later on the painting reappeared. The new owner lent the painting to an art gallery in Los Angeles but while on display it was stolen. FBI agent Don Eppes, played by Rob Morrow, tries to figure out what really happened. Rowlands received positive reviews for this role. She has been a spokesperson for people who were persecuted by the Nazis.
In 2007, she played a supporting role opposite Parker Posey and Melvil Poupaud in Broken English, an independent American feature written and directed by her daughter Zoe Cassavetes. In 2009, she appeared on an episode of Monk ("Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door"). On March 2, 2010, she appeared on an episode of NCIS as lead character Leroy Jethro Gibbs's former mother-in-law, who is embroiled in a murder investigation. In 2014, she starred in the film adaptation of Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks. In 2015, she described herself as generally retired from acting.
Rowlands married retired businessman Robert Forrest in 2012.
Rowlands stated that she was a fan of actress Bette Davis while growing up. She played Davis's daughter in the 1979 made-for-TV film .
| 1958 | The High Cost of Loving | Jenny Fry | |
| 1959 | Shadows | Woman in Nightclub | Uncredited; First film collaboration with John Cassavetes |
| 1962 | Lonely Are the Brave | Jerry Bondi | |
| Els | |||
| 1963 | Sophie Widdicombe | ||
| 1967 | Tony Rome | Rita Kosterman | |
| 1968 | Faces | Jeannie Rapp | |
| 1969 | Machine Gun McCain | Rosemary Scott | |
| 1971 | Minnie and Moskowitz | Minnie Moore | |
| 1974 | Mabel Longhetti | ||
| 1976 | Two-Minute Warning | Janet | |
| 1977 | Opening Night | Myrtle Gordon | |
| 1978 | Mary Pino | ||
| 1980 | Gloria | Gloria Swenson | |
| 1982 | Tempest | Antonia Dimitrius | |
| 1984 | Love Streams | Sarah Lawson | |
| 1987 | Light of Day | Jeanette Rasnick | |
| 1988 | Another Woman | Marion Post | |
| 1989 | Herself | Documentary short | |
| 1990 | Hollywood Mavericks | Documentary | |
| 1991 | Once Around | Marilyn Bella | |
| Night on Earth | Victoria Snelling | Segment: "Los Angeles" | |
| Ted & Venus | Mrs. Turner | ||
| 1993 | Silent Cries | Peggy Sutherland | |
| 1995 | Something to Talk About | Georgia King | |
| Mae Morgan | |||
| 1996 | Unhook the Stars | Mildred "Millie" Hawks | |
| 1997 | She's So Lovely | Miss Jane Green | |
| 1998 | Paulie | Ivy | |
| Hope Floats | Ramona Calvert | ||
| Gram | |||
| Playing by Heart | Hannah | ||
| 1999 | Laura Ponti | ||
| Documentary | |||
| 2003 | Herself | ||
| 2004 | Taking Lives | Mrs. Asher | |
| The Notebook | Older Allie Calhoun | ||
| 2005 | Violet Devereaux | ||
| 2006 | Paris, je t'aime | Gena | Segment: "Quartier Latin" |
| 2007 | Broken English | Vivien Wilder-Mann | |
| Persepolis | Grandmother (voice) | English-dubbed version | |
| 2011 | Olive | Tess M. Powell | |
| 2012 | Yellow | Mimi | |
| 2013 | Parts Per Billion | Esther | |
| 2014 | Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks | Lily Harrison | Final film role |
| Season 6 Episode 33: "The Great Gatsby" |
| Season 2 Episode 34: "The Ways of Courage" |
| Season 5 Episode 40: "Time for Love" |
| Season 7 Episode 50: "A Chance of Love" |
| (1) Season 1 Episode 14: "Caribbean Cruise" (2) Season 1 Episode 23: "The Pirate's House" |
| Season 3 Episode 7: "Ashton Buys a Horse" |
| (1) Season 4 Episode 15: "Do It Yourself" (2) Season 5 Episode 3: "The Expendable House" |
| Season 1 Episode 9: "Fly Baby, Fly" |
| Season 1 Episode 28: "The Altar" |
| Season 1 Episode 14: "Guns for Empire" |
| Season 6 Episode 2: "The Doubtful Doctor" |
| Season 1 Episode 8: "Double Trouble" |
| Season 1 Episode 5: "The Poppy Vendor" |
| Season 1 Episode 20: "A Personal Matter" |
| Season 5 Episode 25: "Flight 307" |
| Season 5 Episode 1: "She Walks in Beauty" |
| Season 2 Episode 3: "No Tears for Savannah" |
| Season 1 Episode 9: "It's Mental Work" |
| Season 1 Episode 14: "Heart of Marble, Body of Shame" |
| Season 1 Episode 23: "The Lonely Hours" |
| Season 1 Episode 6: "One Step Down" |
| Season 3 Episode 20: "To Walk in Grace" |
| (1) Season 1 Episode 17: "Who Killed What's His Name?" (2) Season 1 Episode 28: "Who Killed Annie Foran?" |
| Season 1 Episode 20: "From This Day Forward" |
| Season 1 Episode 20: "The Fountain of Youth Affair" |
| 39 episodes |
| Season 2 Episode 1: "Rapunzel" |
| Mrs. Harriet Cahill |
| 1974 | Best Actress | A Woman Under the Influence | ||
| 1980 | Gloria | |||
| 2015 | Honorary Academy Award |
| 1996 | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role | Unhook the Stars | ||
| 2007 | Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie | What If God Were the Sun |
| 1971 | New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | Minnie and Moskowitz | ||
| 1974 | National Board of Review | Best Actress | A Woman Under the Influence | ||
| 1974 | New York Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | |||
| 1974 | Kansas City Film Critics Circle | Best Actress | |||
| 1974 | San Sebastián International Film Festival | Best Actress | |||
| 1975 | Golden Apple Awards | Female Star of the Year | |||
| 1978 | Berlin International Film Festival | Best Actress | Opening Night | ||
| 1980 | Boston Society of Film Critics | Best Actress | Gloria | ||
| 1984 | Nastro d'Argento | Best Foreign Actress | Love Streams | ||
| 1991 | Actress in a Movie or Miniseries | Montana | |||
| 1994 | Sundance Film Festival | Tribute to Independent Vision Award | |||
| 1988 | New York Women in Film & Television | Muse Award | |||
| 1996 | Boston Film Festival | Film Excellence Award | |||
| 1996 | National Board of Review | Career Achievement Award | |||
| 1999 | Blockbuster Entertainment Awards | Favorite Supporting Actress – Drama/Romance | Hope Floats | ||
| 1999 | Seattle International Film Festival | Excellence for Ensemble Cast | The Weekend | ||
| 2000 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television | |||
| 2003 | Online Film & Television Association | Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries | Hysterical Blindness | ||
| 2004 | AARP Movies for Grownups Awards | Best Actress | The Notebook | ||
| Best Grownup Love Story | |||||
| 2004 | Hamptons International Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Award | |||
| 2004 | Satellite Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role – Drama | The Notebook | ||
| 2005 | Mary Pickford Award | ||||
| 2005 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Best Supporting Actress | The Skeleton Key | ||
| 2005 | Saturn Awards | Best Supporting Actress | |||
| 2008 | Los Angeles Greek Film Festival | Orpheus Award | |||
| 2008 | Temecula Valley International Film Festival | Lifetime Achievement Award | |||
| 2014 | Los Angeles Film Critics Association | Career Achievement Award | |||
| 2017 | Online Film & Television Association | Film Hall of Fame: Actors |
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