The daughter of a state assemblyman, Gena Rowlands was born on June 19, 1930, in Cambria, Wis. After studying at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, Rowlands found success on Broadway and in series television.Rowlands made her film debut in The High Cost of Loving in 1958, the same year she married legendary director John Cassavetes. She collaborated with Cassavetes on numerous films, starting with A Child Is Waiting in 1963 and 1968's Faces. She went on to earn Oscar nominations for two more Cassavetes films: A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980).
Known for her emotionally raw performances, Rowlands earned Emmy awards for The Betty Ford Story (1987), Face of a Stranger (1991) and Hysterical Blindness (2003). She was given Emmy nods for the moving AIDS drama An Early Frost (1985), Wild Iris and What If God Were the Sun?. Other notable films include Once Around and The Notebook.
Night on EarthOn a single night in five major cities around the world, a variety of characters step into five different taxicabs, where they live out personal drama, existential crises and health emergencies -- to the delight and dismay of the world-weary drivers. Giancarlo Esposito, Roberto Benigni, Winona... Read More
GloriaThis John Cassavetes thriller stars Gena Rowlands as Gloria, a tough-talking New York dame with a past she'd rather forget. When a neighboring family is killed by the mob, Gloria must call on her experience to protect the only survivor, a young boy (John Adames). She expects trouble, but what she... Read More
Opening NightIn one of John Cassavetes's most acclaimed films, the director's favorite leading lady, wife Gena Rowlands, plays a stage star heading for a breakdown -- just as her latest show is about to open -- after a fan she dismissed is killed in an accident. The actress begins to lose her grip on both her... Read More
Another WomanA university professor (Gena Rowlands) experiences a midlife crisis, so she rents an apartment next to a psychiatrist's office in order to write a book. There, she inadvertently eavesdrops on what transpires between the doctor and some of her patients. Soon, she becomes obsessed with the life and... Read More
Charms for the Easy LifeThis finely honed Showtime drama based on a novel by Kaye Gibbons chronicles three generations of a matriarchal Southern family that includes midwife and holistic healer Charlie Kate Birch (Gena Rowlands), her daughter, Sofia (Mimi Rogers), and granddaughter, Margaret (Susan May Pratt). Directed by... Read More
Broken English (2007) | PG-13 | |
Persepolis (2007) | PG-13 | |
What If God Were the Sun? (2007) | NR | |
R | ||
The Skeleton Key (2005) | PG-13 | |
PG-13 | ||
Taking Lives (2004) | UR | |
The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie (2003) | PG-13 | |
Hysterical Blindness (2002) | NR | |
Charms for the Easy Life (2002) | NR | |
The Weekend (2000) | UR | |
Hope Floats (1998) | PG-13 | |
The Mighty (1998) | PG-13 | |
Playing by Heart (1998) | R | |
Paulie (1997) | PG | |
Unhook the Stars (1996) | R | |
Something to Talk About (1995) | R | |
Neon Bible (1995) | NR | |
Once Around (1991) | R | |
Night on Earth (1991) | R | |
Another Woman (1988) | PG | |
An Early Frost (1985) | NR | |
Thursday's Child (1983) | NR | |
Tempest (1982) | PG | |
Gloria (1980) | PG | |
The Brink's Job (1978) | PG | |
Opening Night (1977) | NR | |
Two-Minute Warning (1976) | R | |
A Woman Under the Influence (1974) | R | |
NR | ||
Faces (1968) | R | |
Tony Rome (1967) | NR | |
A Child Is Waiting (1963) | TV-14 | |
NR | ||
Lonely Are the Brave (1962) | NR | |
The Spiral Road (1962) | NR | |
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