She sometimes said that if she had not married Mr. Cassavetes, her career might have taken a very different turn: She could have been the blonde in romantic comedies. But, she contended, physical beauty was so common in Hollywood that it was irrelevant. When People magazine named her one of the most beautiful people in the world (she was 69) and asked for beauty tips, she suggested: “Sunglasses are the secret. Sunglasses and a little lipstick will take you to the market.”
Virginia Cathryn Rowlands was born on June 19, 1930, in Madison, Wis....
ADDED: Here's the clip from "A Woman Under the Influence" that I blogged when Peter Falk died in 2011:
And here's something Mia Farrow wrote that I blogged about in 2009:
One workday, while we were waiting to shoot, Roman [Polanski] was discoursing about the impossibility of long-term monogamy given the brevity of a man's sexual attraction to any woman. An impassioned John Cassavetes responded that Roman knew nothing about women, or relationships, and that he, John, was more attracted than ever to his wife, Gena Rowlands. Roman stared at him and blinked a few times, and for once had no reply.
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34 comments:
Didn’t know her. Sorry she’s passed…
Roman Polanski is a sex criminal and pedo. What does he know?
To hear Polanski discussing a relationship in this way, in any way…yuk. Not all his fault. More shame to the industry roaches what defended him. Good on Anjelica Huston for kinda sorta having a conscience…
One of the problems Polanski had with monogamy was that his partners kept growing up and deciding he was a vile rapist.
I have never watched anything with her in it. Not by choice. Perhaps I will start. Falk looked pretty damn handsome there.
Falk looked pretty damn handsome there.
Yes, he did. Some great acting in that clip.
I saw the movie back then. I thought it was disturbing, and in a way that didn't draw me in. My girlfriend at the time thought the movie was just great. Watching the snippet, her performance seems mannered and actorly. Peter Falk looks more real.....Peter Falk's role as Colombo bleeds into all his other performances......I read the obit. She made a living playing high strung women with taut nerves. She had a successful career, but the guess here is that Peter Falk's character as Colombo will be far more enduring that her Woman under the Influence character.
I was just talking with my youngest last night about this - artists, not Gena Rowlands. He commented that he'd heard Will Farrell was terrible to work with. I said I wasn't surprised, but it always disappointed me to hear that about artists - that they are the luckiest people in the world and ought to be grateful.
No one goes into art, any art, to make money - people make art because they're driven to make art.. (I guess I have to excise certain genres of music from this statement, as I do thinks some people go into the heavily produced, written-by-a-team garbage for money.) So if you are able to live on what you make from your art, much less get rich from it, you are unbelievably fortunate to be able to do so while doing something you went into because you couldn't not do it.
Is Will Farrell an artist? I'm not a big fan, but I appreciate that my preferences don't define comedy. And I do love Blades of Glory.
Social progress: one step forward, two steps backward.
Pedophilia: A sexual orientation that will forever live in infamy or social progress. #NoJudgment #NoLabels
But remember it was rape (i.e. sodomy through the back... black hole... whore h/t NAACP), not rape-rape h/t Whoopi that could have conceived a "burden" h/t Obama. The undocumented h/t Democrats victim was the Planned Parenthood corporation. Roe, Roe your...
Under Democratic law, in sanctuary states, discrimination by sexual orientation (e.g. pedophilia) is illegal and a profitable hate crime.
Loved her work. My favorite line is in Tempest. She's having an early morning dialog with her husband in bed, when she gets out of bed. "I gotta pee". It seemed so authentic, something women in movies never say, but women in real life do.
Peter Falk was great playing himself in Wim Wenders' Wings of Desire, though he was not the focus of the film. Not sure how Will Ferrell made it into this discussion. Never understood his appeal.
I very much enjoyed her turn in “Gloria”. And Polanski is a sick fuck.
Seems like Rowlands should have been a much bigger star. She might have been born at the wrong year (1930). Ten-fifteen years earlier, she would have taken her place alongside sexy, hard-edged types like Susan Hayward and Gloria Grahame. Ten-fifteen years later, she could have been Faye Dunaway or Jane Fonda. As it happened, she was into her forties and fifties at a time when there weren't a lot of leading roles for women of that age.
I see that she did a Columbo guest shot in 1975, a year after that clip Ann posted. Columbo was an interesting show in that Falk was really the only series regular. Any other show like that, there was a supporting cast of characters that would have their own storylines, etc. I realize that a big reason for this was all the money Falk was personally soaking up from the production budget. There was also a ton of location shooting and (IIRC) no permanent sets. I doubt there was ever a show whose success relied so exclusively on one actor's performance.
I've only seen her later films when she's playing someone's mother. Mesmerizing. Can't take your eyes off her. Toss Julia Roberts or Sandra Bullock (the leads) aside and let me watch the side story with Gena. RIP, great lady.
And an example of the headline quote. Raping a middle school girl caused him to only have to sacrifice being in the USA, while it did nothing to harm his esteem in the eyes of those who admire "artists".
Gloria is a great film and she's really good in it.
Mom was aware of her back in the 40s when they were both at UW-Madison. I don't recall if they were both in the same sorority or not, or if she pledged, or what.
RIP, Gena. I adore Peter Falk.
Yes, indeed!
Rowland's father was a Wisconsin state legislator and LaFollette Progressive.
I don't remember her starlet or leading days. She came on my radar screen as the tough broad in "Gloria."
Cassavetes was ahead of his time. "Shadows" must have been an eyeopener in 1959.
Them Madison, Wisconsin ladies sure can communicate well. Loved her.
She was wonderful. RIP.
"Artist" seems like an awfully grand word to describe an actress, but I agree with her that it seems like a pretty agreeable sort of life. Not much artistic sacrifice in evidence.
She was perfection in every role she played. You want to see her at ther best? "Woman under the Influence" "playing by Heart" (my personal fave) and Unhook the Stars.
Unbelievably wonderful.
Rowland is a great actress, she went thru the whole range in the clip. When they put their fists on each cheek and close their eyes as hard as they can, you know you are SOL. Watch it with the sound off.
Beautiful women often stumble into fortunate circumstances, even in Hollywood where there are lots of them, there will never be enough of them to meet the demand from powerful men.
If you like Falk but haven't seen "Tune in Tomorrow", you're in for a treat. Unless you are Albanian.
It was my fault, about Will Farrell... Apologies to all! (And I also struggle to understand his appeal. Elf? Meh.)
She found herself dreaming in the character that she was playing, but nothing to do with the actual film or the script. That’s another level of psychological connection. That is real art.
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