ACTOR
Gena Rowlands
26 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (26)
- #001
Gena Rowlands's performance as Mabel Longhetti in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) ranked 63rd on Premiere Magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Performances of All Time (2006).
- #002
She suppressed the first version of her husband John Cassavetes's film Shadows (1958), neither allowing it to be shown nor acknowledging its existence.
- #003
When she began working in theater in New York in her early twenties, she saw Marlene Dietrich in The Blue Angel 38 times. "I've been a Dietrich fan ever since."
- #004
As of 2013, Gena Rowlands is one of six women to have received a Best Actress Oscar nomination for a performance directed by her spouse. She is the only person to have received two such nominations, for A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both directed by John Cassavetes. The other five are Elisabeth Bergner for Escape Me Never (1935), directed by Paul Czinner; Jean Simmons for The Happy Ending (1969), directed by Richard Brooks; Frances McDormand for Fargo (1996), directed by Joel Coen; Julie Andrews for Victor/Victoria (1982), directed by Blake Edwards; and Joanne Woodward for Rachel, Rachel (1968), directed by Paul Newman. Jules Dassin also directed his future wife Melina Mercouri in an Oscar-nominated Best Actress performance (Never on Sunday, 1960), but they were not yet married at the time of the nomination.
- #005
Pedro Almodóvar dedicated his film All About My Mother (1999) to her, Bette Davis and Romy Schneider.
- #006
She graduated from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia, in 1947. Other alumni include Forrest Tucker, Shirley MacLaine, Warren Beatty and Sandra Bullock.
- #007
She and John Cassavetes made 10 films together: A Child Is Waiting (1963), Faces (1968), Gloria (1980), Love Streams (1984), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), Opening Night (1977), A Woman Under the Influence (1974), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Two-Minute Warning (1976) and Tempest (1982).
- #008
She was pregnant with her daughter Xan Cassavetes during the filming of Faces.
- #009
In Love Streams (1984) she played the sister of her real-life husband, John Cassavetes.
- #010
Her late husband John Cassavetes nicknamed her "Golden Girl" because of her blonde hair.
- #011
She is the mother of Nick Cassavetes, Xan Cassavetes and Zoe R. Cassavetes.
- #012
She and her real-life mother, Lady Rowlands, played daughter and mother together in two films, Minnie and Moskowitz (1971) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974). They also appeared together in Opening Night (1977), though they did not play daughter and mother in that film.
- #013
She is Maggie Gyllenhaal's favorite actress.
- #014
She is an AADA graduate (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1952.
- #015
She studied at the University of Wisconsin from 1947 to 1950 and went to New York to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.
- #016
She is the daughter of Lady Rowlands.
- #017
She is a lifelong progressive Democrat.
- #018
Her father was of Welsh origin. Her mother was of English origin.
- #019
She appeared in Paulie (1998) and also in Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door (2009), in which her character had a son named Paulie. Tony Shalhoub starred in both.
- #020
While growing up, Gena Rowlands was a fan of the actress Bette Davis.
- #021
Her first name rhymes with henna.
- #022
Gena Rowlands is mentioned in Fito Páez's song "Circo Beat."
- #023
Gena Rowlands is the grandmother of Sasha Cassavetes and Virginia Cassavetes.
- #024
Gena Rowlands is the mother-in-law of Heather Wahlquist.
- #025
Gena Rowlands is the sister of David Rowlands.
- #026
Gena Rowlands first met Cassavetes at the American Academy at Carnegie Hall, where both were students.
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