Gena Rowlands

Gena Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American actress of film, stage and television. The four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner is best known for her collaborations with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes in ten films, in two of which, Gloria and A Woman Under the Influence, she gave Academy Award-nominated performances.

Early years

Born as Virginia Cathryn Rowlands in Madison, Wisconsin, Her father, Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, was a banker and a state legislator, and her mother, Mary Allen (née Neal), was a painter and housewife originally from Arkansas. The 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 as branch manager of the Office of Price Administration; and later moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota. From 1947-50, she attended the University of Wisconsin, where she was a popular student already renowned for her beauty. She left for New York City to study drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Stage and television

In the early 1950s, Rowlands performed with repertory theatre companies and at the Provincetown Playhouse. She made her Broadway debut in The Seven Year Itch and toured in a national production of the play. Rowlands guest starred on such anthology television series as Robert Montgomery Presents, Appointment with Adventure, Kraft Television Theatre, and Studio One (1955). In 1956, she starred in Middle of the Night opposite Edward G. Robinson. She appeared alongside husband Cassavetes on an episode ("Fly Baby, Fly") of the 1959–60 NBC detective series Johnny Staccato.

With John Cassavetes, 1979

In 1961–62, she starred as the deaf-mute wife of Robert Lansing on 87th Precinct. In that same season, she appeared on Target: The Corruptors! Thereafter, she guest starred in The Lloyd Bridges Show and Breaking Point. In 1963 she guest-starred in an episode on the television series Bonanza and The Virginian. In 1967, she was cast as socialite Adrienne Van Leyden in the prime time soap opera Peyton Place. She also guest-starred that year in the western series The Road West, starring Barry Sullivan, Andrew Prine and Glenn Corbett. In 1975, she appeared with Peter Falk, Oskar Werner, and Martha Scott in the Columbo episode Playback, playing wheelchair-using Elizabeth Van Wick, whose husband (Werner) murders her wealthy mother (Scott).
In 1985, Rowlands played the mother in the critically acclaimed made-for-TV movie An Early Frost. She appeared in Mira Nair's HBO movie Hysterical Blindness for which she won her third Emmy. She also won an Emmy for her portrayal of former first lady Betty Ford in the 1987 made-for-TV movie The Betty Ford Story.

Cassavetes films

Rowlands made her film debut in The High Cost of Loving in 1958. She and Cassavetes made ten films together: A Child is Waiting (1963), Faces (1968), Machine Gun McCain (1969), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), A Woman Under the Influence (1974; nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Opening Night (1977), Gloria (1980; nomination for Academy Award for Best Actress), Tempest (1982), and Love Streams (1984).
According to Boston University film scholar Ray Carney, Rowlands sought to suppress an early version of Cassavetes' 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' 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' request, UCLA created an alternate print with almost ten minutes of content edited out, as Rowlands felt that these scenes were in poor taste. The alternate print is the only one that has been made available for rental.

Post-Cassavetes films

Rowlands at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival.

Rowlands was seen in The Notebook, which was directed by her son Nick Cassavetes, opposite James Garner. In 2004, she won her first Daytime Emmy for her role as Mrs. Evelyn Ritchie in The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie.
Rowlands has been nominated for two Academy Awards, eight Emmies, one Daytime Emmy, eight Golden Globes, three Satellite Awards, and one SAG Award. Some of her notable wins include a Silver Berlin Bear; three Emmy Awards and one Daytime Emmy; two Golden Globes; two National Board of Review Awards; two Satellite Awards; and one Prize San Sebastián. In 2005, she appeared opposite Kate Hudson, Peter Sarsgaard, and John Hurt in the gothic thriller The Skeleton Key.^{[citation needed]}
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.

Personal life

Rowlands was married to John Cassavetes from April 9, 1954, until his death on February 3, 1989. They had three children, all actor-directors: Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe.






Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1958 The High Cost of Loving Jenny Fry
1959 Shadows Woman in Nightclub Audience Uncredited
1962 Lonely Are the Brave Jerry Bondi
1962 The Spiral Road Els
1963 A Child Is Waiting Sophie Widdicombe Benham
1967 Tony Rome Rita Kosterman
1968 Faces Jeannie Rapp
1969 Machine Gun McCain Rosemary Scott Aso known as Gli intoccabili
1971 Minnie and Moskowitz Minnie Moore
1974 A Woman Under the Influence Mabel Longhetti Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress
National Board of Review Award for Best Actress
San Sebastián International Film Festival Prize for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
1975 Columbo: Playback Elizabeth Van Wick
1976 Two-Minute Warning Janet
1977 Opening Night Myrtle Gordon Silver Bear for Best Actress[10]
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1978 The Brink's Job Mary Pino
1978 A Question of Love Linda Ray Guettner
1979 Strangers: The Story of a Mother and Daughter Abigail Mason
1980 Gloria Gloria Swenson Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama
1982 Tempest Antonia Dimitrius
1982 Shelly Duvall's Faerie Tale Theater: Season 2 - Rapunzel The Witch
1983 Thursday's Child Victoria Alden Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1984 Love Streams Sarah Lawson Nastro d'Argento Best Actress
1985 An Early Frost Katherine Pierson Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1987 Light of Day Jeanette Rasnick
1987 The Betty Ford Story Betty Ford Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1988 Another Woman Marion Post
1990 Hollywood Mavericks Herself
1991 Once Around Marilyn Bella
1991 Night on Earth Victoria Snelling
1991 Ted & Venus Mrs. Turner
1991 Face of a Stranger Pat Foster Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
1992 Crazy in Love Honora Swift Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
1993 Silent Cries Peggy Sutherland
1993 Anything for John Herself
1994 Parallel Lives Francie Pomerantz
1995 Something to Talk About Georgia King
1995 The Neon Bible Mae Morgan
1996 Unhook the Stars Mildred 'Millie' Hawks Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
1997 She's So Lovely Miss Jane Green
1998 Paulie Ivy
1998 Hope Floats Ramona Calvert Lone Star Film & Television Award for Best Supporting Actress
1998 The Mighty Gram
1998 Playing by Heart Hannah
1999 The Weekend Laura Ponti Nominated — Seattle International Film Festival Citation of Excellence for Ensemble Cast Performance
2000 Light Keeps Me Company Herself - interviewee
2000 The Color of Love: Jacey's Story Georgia Porter Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film
2001 Wild Iris Minnie Brinn Nominated — Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
2003 Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There Herself
2003 Hysterical Blindness Virginia Miller Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2004 The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie Evelyn Ritchie Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children/Youth/Family Special
2004 Taking Lives Mrs. Asher
2004 The Notebook Allie Calhoun Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture
2005 The Skeleton Key Violet Devereaux Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2006 Paris, je t'aime Gena (segment "Quartier Latin")
2007 Broken English Vivien Wilder-Mann
2007 Persepolis Marjane's grandmother
2007 What If God Were the Sun? Melissa Eisenbloom Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie
Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie
2009 Monk Marge Johnson Nominated - Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
2010 NCIS Joann Fielding
2011 Olive First feature-length film made on a cell phone by first-time director Hooman Khalili

Celebrity Roast ,Lucy Ball-For Glenn

Veronica Lake

Veronica Lake (November 14, 1922 – July 7, 1973) was an American film actress and pin-up model. She received both popular and critical acclaim, most notably for her role in Sullivan's Travels and her femme fatale roles in film noir with Alan Ladd during the 1940s, and was well-known for her peek-a-boo hairstyle. She had a string of broken marriages and, after her career declined, long struggles with mental illness and alcoholism.

Early life and career

Lake was born Constance Frances Marie Ockelman in Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Harry E. Ockelman, of Danish-Irish descent, worked for an oil company aboard a ship. Her father died in an industrial explosion in Philadelphia in 1932 when she was ten. Her mother, née Constance Charlotta Trimble (1902–1992), (listed as "Veronica F." on the 1920 census), married family friend Anthony Keane, a newspaper staff artist, a year later, and Lake began using his last name.
Lake was sent to Villa Maria, an all-girls Catholic boarding school in Montreal, Canada, from which she was expelled. The Keane family later moved to Miami, Florida. Lake attended Miami Senior High School in Miami, where she was known for her beauty. She had a troubled childhood and was, according to her mother, diagnosed as schizophrenic.
In 1938 Lake moved with her mother and stepfather to Beverly Hills, where her mother enrolled her in the Bliss-Hayden School of Acting. Her first appearance on screen was for RKO, playing a small role among several coeds in the 1939 film, Sorority House. Similar roles followed, including All Women Have Secrets and Dancing Co-Ed. During the making of Sorority House director John Farrow first noticed how her hair always covered her right eye, creating an air of mystery about her and enhancing her natural beauty. She was then introduced, while still a teenager, to the Paramount producer Arthur Hornblow, Jr. He changed her name to Veronica Lake because the surname suited her blue eyes.
Her contract was subsequently dropped by RKO. She married art director John S. Detlie, 14 years her senior, in 1940. A small role in the comedy, Forty Little Mothers, brought unexpected attention. In 1941 she was signed to a long-term contract with Paramount Pictures. On August 21, 1941, she gave birth to her first child, Elaine Detlie.

1940s icon

Lake in her first starring role, opposite Joel McCrea in Sullivan's Travels (1941)

Her breakthrough film was I Wanted Wings in 1941, a major hit in which Lake played the second female lead and was said to have stolen scene after scene from the rest of the cast. This success was followed by Hold Back the Dawn later that year. She had starring roles in more popular movies, including Sullivan's Travels, This Gun for Hire, I Married a Witch, The Glass Key, and So Proudly We Hail!. Looking back at her career years later, Lake remarked, "I never did cheesecake; I just used my hair."
For a short time during the early 1940s Lake was considered one of the most reliable box office draws in Hollywood. She became known for onscreen pairings with actor Alan Ladd. At first, the couple was teamed together merely out of physical necessity: Ladd was just 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m) tall and the only actress then on the Paramount lot short enough to pair with him was Lake, who stood just 4 feet 11½ inches (1.51 m). They made four films together.
A stray lock of her shoulder-length blonde hair during a publicity photo shoot led to her iconic "peekaboo" hairstyle, which was widely imitated. During World War II, Lake changed her trademark image to encourage women working in war industry factories to adopt more practical, safer hairstyles,although doing so may have damaged her career.
Although popular with the public, Lake had a complex personality and acquired a reputation for being difficult to work with. Eddie Bracken, her co-star in Star Spangled Rhythm was quoted as saying, "She was known as 'The Bitch' and she deserved the title."In that movie, Lake took part in a song lampooning her hair style, "A Sweater, A Sarong and a Peekaboo Bang", performed with Paulette Goddard and Dorothy Lamour. Joel McCrea, her co-star in Sullivan's Travels, reputedly turned down the co-starring role in I Married a Witch, saying, "Life's too short for two films with Veronica Lake."
Lake's career stumbled with her unsympathetic role as Nazi spy Dora Bruckman in 1944's The Hour Before the Dawn. During filming, she tripped on a lighting cable while pregnant and began hemorrhaging. She recovered, but her second child, William, was born prematurely on July 8, 1943, dying a week later from uremic poisoning. By the end of 1943 her first marriage ended in divorce. Meanwhile, scathing reviews of The Hour Before Dawn included criticism of her unconvincing German accent.
Nonetheless, Lake was earning $4,500 per week under her contract with Paramount. She had begun drinking more heavily during this period and people began refusing to work with her. Paramount cast Lake in a string of mostly forgotten films. A notable exception was The Blue Dahlia (1946), in which she again co-starred with Ladd. During filming, screenplay writer Raymond Chandler referred to her as "Moronica Lake".Paramount decided not to renew her contract in 1948.
She married film director Andre De Toth in 1944 and had a son, Andre Anthony Michael De Toth, known as Michael De Toth (October 25, 1945 – February 24, 1991), and a daughter, Diana De Toth (born October 16, 1948). Lake was sued by her mother for support payments in 1948.
Lake earned her pilot's license in 1946 and was able to fly solo between Los Angeles and New York.

Later years

After a single film for 20th Century Fox, Slattery's Hurricane (1949), her career collapsed. By the end of 1951 she had appeared in one last film (Stronghold, which she later described as "a dog"), filed for bankruptcy, and divorced de Toth. The IRS seized the remainder of her assets for unpaid taxes. Lake turned to television and stage work and in 1955 married songwriter Joseph A. McCarthy.
After breaking her ankle in 1959, Lake was unable to continue working as an actress. She and McCarthy divorced, after which she drifted between cheap hotels in Brooklyn and New York City and was arrested several times for public drunkenness and disorderly conduct. A New York Post reporter found her working as a barmaid at the all-women's Martha Washington Hotel in Manhattan. At first, Veronica claimed that she was a guest at the hotel and covering for a friend. Soon afterward, she admitted that she was employed at the bar. The reporter's widely distributed story led to some television and stage appearances, most notably in the off-Broadway revival of the musical Best Foot Forward. (Her contract overlapped with the departing Liza Minnelli and the two briefly co-starred together.) In 1966, she had a brief stint as a TV hostess in Baltimore, Maryland, along with a largely ignored film role in Footsteps in the Snow.
Her physical and mental health declined steadily. By the late 1960s Lake was in Hollywood, Florida, apparently immobilized by paranoia (which included claims she was being stalked by the FBI).
She spent a brief period in England, where she appeared in the plays, Madame Chairman and A Streetcar Named Desire.
When Veronica: The Autobiography of Veronica Lake (Bantam, 1972) was published, she promoted the book with a memorable interview on The Dick Cavett Show, as well as an episode of To Tell the Truth, on which the panel had to guess which of three disguised women was the "real" Veronica Lake. Two of the panelists, Bill Cullen and Peggy Cass, quickly disqualified themselves because they knew her. With the proceeds, she co-produced and starred in her last film, Flesh Feast (1970), a very low budget horror movie with a Nazi-myth storyline. She then moved to the UK, where she had a short-lived marriage with an "English sea captain", Robert Carleton-Munro, before returning to the U.S. in 1973, having filed for divorce.
Lake was immediately hospitalized. Although she had made a cheerful and positive impression on the nurses who cared for her, she apparently was estranged from her three surviving children, particularly her daughters. Elaine Detlie became known as Ani Sangge Lhamo after becoming a member of the Subud faith in New Zealand. Diana became a secretary for the U.S. Embassy in Rome in the 1970s Michael De Toth stayed with his mother on and off through the 1960s and 1970s. He married Edwina Mae Niecke. When Lake died, he claimed her body.

Death

Lake died on July 7, 1973, of hepatitis and acute renal failure (complications of her alcoholism) in Burlington, Vermont, where her death was certified by Dr. Wareen Beeken at the Fletcher Allen Hospital, and where she was seen by many staff members during her nearly two-week stay.
Her ashes were scattered off the coast of the Virgin Islands as she had requested. A memorial service was held in Manhattan, but only her son and handful of strangers attended. In 2004 some of Lake's ashes were reportedly found in a New York antique store. Her son Michael died on February 24, 1991, at age 45 in Olympia, Washington.
Lake has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6918 Hollywood Boulevard for her contributions to the motion picture industry. She remains a legendary star today and her autographs and other memorabilia continue to draw high prices on eBay and other popular outlets.






Film and television credits
Year Title Role Notes
Film 1939 Sorority House Coed Uncredited, alternative title: That Girl from College
1939 The Wrong Room The Attorney's New Bride Credited as Connie Keane
1939 Dancing Co-Ed One of Couple on Motorcycle Uncredited, alternative title: Every Other Inch a Lady
1939 All Women Have Secrets Jane Credited as Constance Keane
1940 Young As You Feel Bit part Credited as Constance Keane
1940 Forty Little Mothers Granville girl Uncredited
1941 I Wanted Wings Sally Vaughn First major film role
1941 Hold Back the Dawn Movie Actress Uncredited
1941 Sullivan's Travels The Girl First leading role
1942 This Gun for Hire Ellen Graham First of four films with Alan Ladd
1942 The Glass Key Janet Henry Second of four films with Alan Ladd
1942 I Married a Witch Jennifer
1942 Star Spangled Rhythm Herself
1943 So Proudly We Hail! Lt. Olivia D'Arcy
1944 The Hour Before the Dawn Dora Bruckmann
1945 Bring on the Girls Teddy Collins
1945 Out of This World Dorothy Dodge
1945 Duffy's Tavern Herself
1945 Hold That Blonde Sally Martin
1946 Miss Susie Slagle's Nan Rogers
1946 The Blue Dahlia Joyce Harwood Third of four films with Alan Ladd
1947 Ramrod Connie Dickason
1947 Variety Girl Herself
1948 Saigon Susan Cleaver Fourth and final film with Alan Ladd
1948 The Sainted Sisters Letty Stanton
1948 Isn't It Romantic? Candy Cameron
1949 Slattery's Hurricane Dolores Greaves
1951 Stronghold Mary Stevens
1966 Footsteps in the Snow
1970 Flesh Feast Dr. Elaine Frederick Alternative title: Time is Terror
Year Title Role Notes
Television series 1950 Your Show of Shows 1 episode
1950 Lights Out 1 episode
1950–1953 Lux Video Theatre Various 3 episodes
1951 Somerset Maugham TV Theatre Valerie 1 episode
1952 Celanese Theatre 1 episode
1952 Tales of Tomorrow Paula 1 episode
1952 Goodyear Television Playhouse Judy "Leni: Howard 1 episode
1953 Danger 1 episode
1954 Broadway Television Theatre 1 episode

Lucille Ball Meets Ginger Rogers

Joan Rivers interviews Angie Dickinson in 1983