Gena Rowlands was born on June 19 1930 in Madison, Wisconsin. Her mother had been invited to be a Ziegfeld Girl, but chose a career in art instead. Her father was a banker and a state senator. In 1939 the family moved to Washington, DC after her father got a job with the Department of Agriculture. They returned to Madison, Wisconsin before moving to Minneapolis. Miss Rowlands attended the Department of Wisconsin, but left to study acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. It was during this period that she met actor and future director John Cassavetes. They soon married and would become frequent collaborators.
Gena Rowlands made her professional stage debut at the at the Provincetown Playhouse in Massachusetts in the early 1950s. She made her television debut in an episode of Top Secret in 1954. In the Fifties she guest starred on such shows as Robert Montgomery Presents, Ponds Theatre, Armstrong Circle Theatre, Studio One, Appointment with Adventure, The United States Steel Hour, Goodyear Television Playhouse, General Electric Theatre, Laramie, Johnny Staccato, Markham, Riverboat, Adventures in Paradise, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and The Tab Hunter Show. She made her film debut in 1958 in The High Cost of Living. In the Fifties she appeared in the movie Shadows (1959). She appeared on Broadway in Middle of the Night.
In the Sixties Gena Rwolands had a recurring role on the TV series 87th Precinct and a regular role on the nighttime soap opera Peyton Place. She guest starred on the shows The Islanders; Target: The Corruptors!; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; The Dick Powell Theatre; The Lloyd Bridges Show; 77 Sunset Strip; Bonanza; The Virginian; Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre; Breaking Point; Kraft Suspense Theatre; The Alfred Hitchcock Hour; Dr. Kildare; Burke's Law; Run for Your Life; The Long, Hot Summer; The Road West; The Girl From U.N.C.L.E.; and Garrison's Gorillas. She appeared in the movies Lonely Are the Brave (1962), The Spiral Road (1962), A Child is Waiting (1963), Tony Rome (1967), Faces (1968), and Machine Gun McCain (1969).
In the Seventies Miss Rowlands appeared in the movies Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), A Woman Under the Infuence (1974), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Opening Night (1977), The Brink's Job (1978), and Gloria (1980). She guest starred on the shows Medical Center; Circle of Fear; Marcus Welby, M.D.; and Columbo.
In the Eighties Gena Rowlands appeared in the movies Tempest (1982), Love Streams (1984), Light of Dayi (1987), and Another Woman (1988). She guest starred on the show Faerie Tale Theatre and appeared in several TV movies, including playing Betty Ford in The Betty Ford Story. In the Nineties she appeared in the movies Once Around (1991), Night on Earth (1991), Ted & Venus (1991), Silent Cries (1993), Something to Talk About (1995), The Neon Bible (1995), Unhook the Stars (1996), She's So Lovely (1997), Paulie (1998), Hope Floats (1998), The Mighty (1998), Playing by Heart (1998), and The Weekend (1999).
In the Naughts Gena Rowlands guest starred on the shows Numb3rs, Monk, and NCIS. She appeared in the movies Taking Lives (2004), The Notebook (2004), The Skelton Key (2005), Paris, je t'aime (2006),and Broken English (2007). She was the voice of the grandmother in the American dub of the animated film Persepolis. In the Teens she appeared in the movies Olive (2011), Yellow (2012), Parts Per Billion (2013), and Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks (2014).
Gena Rowlands was a remarkable actress with a great deal of versatility. She will always be remembered as the former mobster's girlfriend on the run from gangsters in Gloria. She will also be remembered as the alcoholic who is also suffering from another mental disorder in the movie A Woman Under the Inflence. She played a prostitute in Faces. Gena Rowlands was a frequent guest star on television from the Fifties to the Seventies, where she also gave many great performances. In the Alfred Hitchcock Hour episode "The Lonely Hours," she played a young mother whose new boarder shows an unhealthy interest in her newborn baby. In the Columbo episode "Playback" she played the vulnerable, disabled wife of a tech millionaire who is unaware of his womanizing. Gena Rowlands played a wide variety of roles throughout her career and played all of them well.
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