Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (June 19, 1930 – August 14, 2024) was an American actress. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations with her late actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, including A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), which earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress. She also won the Silver Bear for Best Actress for Opening Night (1977).

Filmography

• 2017Unfortunate Circumstances — Dr. Cohen
• 2014Parts Per Billion — Esther
• 2014Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks — Lily Harrison
• 2014Yellow — Mimi
• 2011Faces — Jeannie Rapp (archive footage)
• 2011Olive — Tess M Powell
• 2007Broken English — Vivien Wilder-Mann
• 2007What If God Were the Sun? — Melissa Eisenbloom
• 2006Paris Je T'aime — Gena (Quartier Latin), Writer
• Numb3rs — Erika Hellman
• 2005The Skeleton Key — Violet Devereaux
• 2004Taking Lives — Mrs. Rebecca Asher
• 2004The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie — Mrs. Evelyn Ritchie
• 2004The Notebook — Older Allie
• NCIS — Joann Fielding
• 2002Charms for the Easy Life — Charlie Kate
• 2002Hysterical Blindness — Virginia Miller
• Monk — Marge Johnson
• 2001Wild Iris — Minnie Brinn
• 2000The Color of Love: Jacey's Story — Georgia Porter
• 1999All About My Mother — In Memory Of
• 1999The Weekend — Laura Ponti
• 19981001 Nights — Narrator (voice)
• 1998Best Friends for Life — Mrs. Harriet Cahill
• 1998Grace & Glorie — Grace Stiles
• 1998Hope Floats — Ramona Calvert
• 1998Paulie — Ivy
• 1998Playing by Heart — Hannah
• 1998The Mighty — Gram
• 1997She's So Lovely — Miss Green
• 1996Unhook the Stars — Mildred
• 1995Something to Talk About — Georgia King
• 1995The Neon Bible — Mae Morgan
• 1994Parallel Lives — Francie Pomerantz
• 1993Silent Cries — Peggy Sutherland
• 1992Crazy in Love — Honora Swift
• 1991Face of a Stranger — Pat Foster
• 1991Night on Earth — Victoria Snelling
• 1991Once Around — Marilyn Bella
• 1991Ted & Venus — Mrs. Turner
• 1990Montana — Bess Guthrie
• 1988Another Woman — Marion
• 1987Light of Day — Janette Rasnick
• 1987The Betty Ford Story — Betty Ford
• 1985An Early Frost — Katherine Pierson
• 1984Love Streams — Sarah Lawson
• 1983Rapunzel — The Witch
• 1983Thursday's Child — Victoria Alden
• Faerie Tale Theatre — Witch
• 1982Tempest — Antonia
• 1980Gloria — Gloria Swenson
• 1979Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter — Abigail Mason
• 1978A Question of Love — Linda Ray Guettner
• 1978The Brink's Job — Mary Pino
• 1977Opening Night — Myrtle Gordon
• 1976Two-Minute Warning — Janet
• 1974A Woman Under the Influence — Mabel Longhetti
• Ghost Story — Kate Lucas
• Columbo — Elizabeth Van Wick
• 1971Minnie and Moskowitz — Minnie Moore
• 1970Husbands — Party Guest
• 1969Machine Gun McCain — Rosemary Scott
• Marcus Welby, M.D. — Lorraine Denby
• Medical Center — Karen Coberly, Frances Delaney
• 1968Faces — Jeannie Rapp
• 1968Nick Quarry
• Garrison's Gorillas — Duchess
• 1967Tony Rome — Rita Kosterman
• The Girl from U.N.C.L.E. — Baroness Ingrid Blangstead
• Run for Your Life — Charlotte Hyde
• Peyton Place — Adrienne Van Leyden
• 1963A Child Is Waiting — Sophie Widdicombe
• Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre — June
• Burke's Law — Paullette Shane, Mitzi Carlisle
• Kraft Suspense Theatre — Janet Cord, Lois Baxter
• 1962Lonely are the Brave — Jerry Bondi
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour — Helen Martin, Louise Henderson, Diana Justin
• The Lloyd Bridges Show — Leslie Kaufman
• 1962The Spiral Road — Els
• The Virginian — Savannah
• 87th Precinct — Teddy Carella
• Dr. Kildare — Helen Scott
• Target: The Corruptors! — Marian Praisewater
• 1960Shadows — Woman in Nightclub Audience (uncredited)
• The Islanders — Pepper Mint
• Adventures in Paradise — Dr. Abigail Brent
• Bonanza — Ragan Miller
• Johnny Staccato — Nina Van Ness
• Laramie — Laurel DeWalt
• Riverboat — Rose Traynor
• 77 Sunset Strip — Barbara Adams
• 1958The High Cost of Loving — Ginny Fry
• Alfred Hitchcock Presents — Lucille Jones
• General Electric Theater — Dorothy Dickenson
• Hallmark Hall of Fame — Victoria Alden, Grace
• Robert Montgomery Presents — Myrtle Wilson
• Studio One — Betty

Appearances as themselves (26)

• 2021Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age — Self
• 2019Gena Rowlands: A Life on Film — Self
• 2019Peter Falk versus Columbo — Self (archive footage)
• 2017Bette Davis: Larger Than Life — Self
• 2014Watching Gena Rowlands — Self (archive footage)
• 2007Cannes: All Access — Self
• 2006Edge of Outside — Self
• 2006Stardust: The Bette Davis Story — Self
• 2004Making 'Faces' — Self
• 2003Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There — Self
• 2002Heart of the Festival — Self (archive footage)
• 2000A Constant Forge — Self
• 2000Light Keeps Me Company — Self
• The View — Self
• E! True Hollywood Story — Self
• 1996John Cassavetes: To Risk Everything to Express It All — Self
• 1993Anything for John — Self
• 1990Hollywood Mavericks — Self (archive footage)
• 1985Nederland C — Self - Interviewed actress
• 1984I'm Almost Not Crazy: John Cassavetes — The Man and His Work — Self
• Les Rendez-vous du dimanche — Self
• Film '72 — Self
• The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
• The Mike Douglas Show — Self
• The Ed Sullivan Show — Self
• Golden Globe Awards — Self - Nominee, Self - Presenter