Geena Davis

1.1. Birth and Family

Virginia Elizabeth Davis was born on January 21, 1956, in Wareham, Massachusetts, United States. Her parents were Lucille (née Cook), a teacher's assistant, and William F. Davis, a civil engineer and church deacon. Both of her parents hailed from small towns in Vermont. Davis has an older brother named Danforth, who goes by "Dan." She later adopted the nickname "Geena" shortly after her birth to distinguish herself from her Aunt Virginia, who was known as Ginny. This nickname was also said to be inspired by the Swedish children's television character "Gena the Crocodile" from the show Druttem och Gena, which aired in Sweden in the late 1970s.

1.2. Education and Early Career

Davis developed an interest in music at a young age, learning to play the piano and flute. As a teenager, she became proficient enough on the organ to serve as the organist at her Congregational church in Wareham. She was also actively involved in cheerleading, becoming cheer captain during her senior year of high school. Davis attended Wareham High School and participated in an exchange student program in Sandviken, Sweden, where she became fluent in Swedish and even got engaged to a classmate, Mats Dahlsköld, with whom she still corresponds by letter.

Initially, Davis intended to study acting at Boston University but missed the required audition while abroad in Sweden. Consequently, she began her higher education at New England College before transferring to Boston University. However, she did not earn enough credits to graduate, receiving an incomplete in at least one class and an F in a movement class. Her first job after university was as a window mannequin model for Ann Taylor, after which she signed with New York's Zoli modeling agency, marking her initial steps into the entertainment industry.

2.1. Rise to Fame (1980s)

While working as a model, Davis was discovered by director Sydney Pollack, who cast her in his 1982 satirical romantic comedy Tootsie. In the film, she played a soap opera actor, a role she described as "someone who's going to be in their underwear a lot of time." Tootsie was a significant commercial success, becoming the second most profitable film of 1982, receiving ten Academy Awards nominations, and is widely regarded as a classic film.

Following her film debut, Davis secured a regular role as Wendy Killian in the television series Buffalo Bill, which aired from June 1983 to March 1984. She also received a writing credit for one episode. Despite the series garnering eleven Emmy Awards nominations, its lukewarm ratings led to its cancellation after two seasons. Concurrently, Davis made guest appearances in several television series, including Knight Rider, Riptide, Family Ties, and Remington Steele. She then starred in her own series, Sara, which ran for 13 episodes. During this period, she also auditioned for the lead role of Sarah Connor in the 1984 science fiction/action film The Terminator, a role that ultimately went to Linda Hamilton.

In 1985, Davis co-starred with Chevy Chase in the action comedy Fletch, portraying the colleague of an undercover Los Angeles Times reporter investigating drug trafficking. She also took on a role in the horror comedy Transylvania 6-5000, where she played a nymphomaniac vampire alongside future husband Jeff Goldblum. Their collaboration continued with the 1986 sci-fi thriller The Fly, loosely based on George Langelaan's 1957 short story. In The Fly, Davis portrayed a science journalist and the love interest of an eccentric scientist. The film became a commercial success, significantly contributing to her growing recognition as an actor. In 1987, she reunited with Goldblum again for the offbeat comedy Earth Girls Are Easy.

2.2. Critical Acclaim and Major Awards (Late 1980s - Early 1990s)

The late 1980s and early 1990s marked a period of significant critical and commercial success for Geena Davis, leading to major awards and iconic roles. Director Tim Burton cast Davis in his 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice, where she played one half of a recently deceased young couple who become ghosts haunting their former home. The film, also starring Alec Baldwin, Michael Keaton, and Winona Ryder, was a box office hit, grossing 73.70 M USD against a 15.00 M USD budget, and received predominantly positive reviews for both Davis's performance and the film as a whole.

Davis then took on the role of Muriel Pritchett, an animal hospital employee and dog trainer with a sickly son, in the 1988 romantic drama The Accidental Tourist, appearing alongside William Hurt and Kathleen Turner. Renowned critic Roger Ebert awarded the film a perfect four stars, noting Davis's nuanced performance: "Davis, as Muriel, brings an unforced wackiness to her role in scenes like the one where she belts out a song while she's doing the dishes. But she is not as simple as she sometimes seems [...]". The film was a critical and commercial success, and Davis's portrayal earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

In 1990, Davis starred as Phyllis Potter, the girlfriend of a man who robs a bank disguised as a clown, in the comedy Quick Change. The film, based on a book by Jay Cronley and a remake of the 1985 French film Hold-Up, saw modest box office returns despite critics praising the lead actors for being "funny and creative while keeping their characters life-size."

A landmark role came in Ridley Scott's 1991 road film Thelma & Louise, where Davis starred opposite Susan Sarandon as Thelma Dickinson, one of two friends who embark on a road trip with unforeseen and liberating consequences. The film achieved both critical and commercial success, influencing subsequent films and artistic works and establishing itself as a significant feminist film. Davis's performance garnered her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress, the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Drama. The film also featured Brad Pitt in his breakout role as a drifter; in his 2020 Oscar acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, Pitt publicly thanked director Ridley Scott and Davis for "giving me my first shot."

In 1992, Davis starred as baseball player Dottie Hinson in the sports comedy-drama A League of Their Own, alongside Madonna and Tom Hanks. The film reached number one at the box office and became the tenth highest-grossing film of the year in North America, earning Davis her first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy. The same year, she played Gale Gayley, a television reporter, in the comedy Hero, co-starring Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia. Despite its box office struggles, Roger Ebert praised Davis's portrayal, stating she was "bright and convincing as the reporter (her best line, after surviving the plane crash, is shouted through an ambulance door: 'This is my story! I did the research!')".

2.3. Career Challenges and Transition (Mid-1990s - 2000s)

The mid-1990s marked a challenging period for Geena Davis's film career, characterized by critical and commercial setbacks, a subsequent hiatus, and a transition into television roles. In 1994, Davis starred in Angie as an office worker in Bensonhurst who dreams of a better life. Despite critical praise for her performance, the film received mixed reviews overall and was a commercial failure. Later that year, she reunited with Michael Keaton for the romantic comedy Speechless, where they played insomniac writers who fall in love while writing speeches for rival political candidates. Although it received negative reviews and had modest box office returns, Davis earned her second nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy for her role, which also included a producer credit.

Davis subsequently collaborated with her then-husband, director Renny Harlin, on the films Cutthroat Island (1995) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996). Harlin had hoped these projects would establish her as an action star. While The Long Kiss Goodnight achieved moderate success, Cutthroat Island was a significant critical and commercial failure, once being listed by Guinness World Records for having the "largest box office loss." This film is often cited as a contributing factor to the decline of Davis as a bankable star.

By the mid to late 1990s, Davis's film career became less prominent. After divorcing Harlin in 1998, she took an "unusually long" two-year break to reflect on her career, as reported by The New York Times. In a 2016 interview with Vulture, she reflected, "Film roles really did start to dry up when I got into my 40s. If you look at IMDb, up until that age, I made roughly one film a year. In my entire 40s, I made one movie, Stuart Little. I was getting offers, but for nothing meaty or interesting like in my 30s. I'd been completely ruined and spoiled. I mean, I got to play a pirate captain! I got to do every type of role, even if the movie failed." She found renewed success in the family genre, appearing as Eleanor Little in the well-received comedy Stuart Little (1999), a role she reprised in Stuart Little 2 (2002) and for the voice role in the direct-to-video Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005).

In television, Davis starred in the sitcom The Geena Davis Show, which aired for one season on ABC during the 2000-01 U.S. television season. She later took on a groundbreaking role in the ABC series Commander in Chief (2005-2006), portraying the first female president of the United States, Mackenzie Allen. While this role earned her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2006, the series was canceled after its first season. Davis admitted in a 2016 interview that she was "devastated" by its cancellation, stating, "I still haven't gotten over it. I really wanted it to work. It was on Tuesday nights opposite House, which wasn't ideal. But we were the best new show that fall. Then, in January, we were opposite American Idol. They said, 'The ratings are going to suffer, so we should take you off the air for the entire run of Idol, and bring it back in May.' I put a lot of time and effort into getting it on another network, too, but it didn't work." Her performance in Commander in Chief also earned her nominations for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series. She was also honored with the 2006 Women in Film Lucy Award.

Davis was the sole American actor cast in the Australian-produced film Accidents Happen (2009), in which she portrayed a foul-mouthed and strict mother. She described this as her most enjoyable experience on a film set, feeling a deep connection with the actors who played her sons. The film, written by Brian Carbee and based on his childhood, received a limited theatrical release and mixed reviews. Variety praised her "valiant" performance despite a script they felt "mistakes abuse for wit."

2.4. Television Roles and Later Film Work (2010s - Present)

In the 2010s, Geena Davis's career experienced a professional expansion, with her increasingly venturing into television acting and her advocacy work gaining significant momentum through the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media. In 2012, she starred as Dr. Agnetta Lindquist, a psychiatrist, in the miniseries Coma, which was based on Robin Cook's 1977 novel of the same name and the subsequent 1978 film adaptation. She then played Katherine Huling, a powerful female movie executive, in Lake Bell's critically acclaimed 2013 directorial debut, the comedy In a World.... Bell highlighted Davis's dialogue in the film as her favorite and described it as her "soapbox moment."

In 2014, Davis lent her voice to the English dub of the Studio Ghibli animated film When Marnie Was There, drawn to the film's rich narratives and strong female characters. She took on the recurring role of Dr. Nicole Herman, an attending fetal surgeon with a life-threatening brain tumor, during the eleventh season of Grey's Anatomy (2014-2015). In 2015, Davis launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in Bentonville, Arkansas, dedicated to promoting diversity in film by showcasing films with prominent roles for minorities and women in both cast and crew. The inaugural festival took place from May 5-9, 2015. Davis also appeared as Mrs. Ehrlick, the mother of a semi-famous television star, in the 2016 comedy Me Him Her.

In 2016, Davis starred in the horror television series The Exorcist, based on the 1973 film. She portrayed the adult Regan MacNeil, who had adopted the name Angela Rance to find peace and anonymity after her childhood ordeal. The Exorcist was well-received by both critics and audiences. The following year, Davis starred in the film adaptation of Marjorie Prime, alongside Jon Hamm, playing Tess, the daughter of an 85-year-old experiencing the early symptoms of Alzheimer's disease. Vanity Fair lauded her performance, stating she "stole every scene." She also appeared as herself, the imaginary god of a heavyset 13-year-old girl, in the comedy Don't Talk to Irene. Variety commented on this role, acknowledging "the preternatural coolness of Geena Davis, a fact celebrated in self-conscious fashion by Don't Talk to Irene, a familiar type of coming-of-age film whose most distinguishing feature is the presence of the actress."

In 2018, Davis reprised her role as Dr. Nicole Herman in the fourteenth season of Grey's Anatomy. She also served as an executive producer for the documentary This Changes Everything, in which she was interviewed about her experiences in the entertainment industry. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival, where it was named first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Documentaries. In 2019, she joined the voice cast of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power as Huntara and executive produced the CBS educational show Mission Unstoppable through her organization. The same year, she joined the cast of GLOW as Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, a former showgirl turned entertainment director. In 2022, Davis's likeness was used for the character of Poison Ivy in the DC Entertainment comic book series Batman '89, which is set between the events of Batman Returns (1992) and The Flash (2023). Davis has also been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional, appearing at Disneyland in 2015 and Disney World in 2011, 2012, and 2019.

In October 2022, HarperOne published Davis's memoir, Dying of Politeness: A Memoir, which chronicles her journey from a conventional New England upbringing and childhood trauma to a more assertive and feminist stance, both through her acting roles and in her real-world activism. Her more recent film roles include Bobbi in Ava (2020), Munca in Fairyland (2023), and Stacy in Blink Twice (2024), and she is set to play Renee in the upcoming 2025 series The Boroughs.

7.1. Marriages and Children

Davis's first marriage was to restaurateur Richard Emmolo. They began dating in December 1978 and moved in together a month later. The couple married on March 25, 1981, but separated in February 1983 and finalized their divorce on June 27, 1984. Following this, she briefly dated and was engaged to actor Christopher McDonald, who would later become her co-star in Thelma & Louise.

In 1985, Davis met her second husband, actor Jeff Goldblum, on the set of Transylvania 6-5000. They married on November 1, 1987, and appeared together in two more films: The Fly and Earth Girls Are Easy. Davis filed for divorce in October 1990, which was finalized the following year. In 2022, Davis described her relationship with Goldblum as "a magical chapter in my life," noting her appreciation for being married to a fellow actor who understood her experiences and was not competitive with her.

During the early 1990s, Davis was also in a relationship with security expert Gavin de Becker and had a liaison with Brad Pitt.

After a five-month courtship, Davis married filmmaker Renny Harlin on September 18, 1993. Harlin directed her in the films Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Davis filed for divorce on August 26, 1997, the day after her personal assistant, Tiffany Bowne, gave birth to a son fathered by Harlin. Their divorce was finalized in June 1998.

In 1998, Davis began dating Iranian-American craniofacial plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy. They allegedly married on September 1, 2001. Together, they have three children: a daughter, Alizeh, born on April 10, 2002, and fraternal twin sons, Kaiis and Kian, born on May 6, 2004. In May 2018, Jarrahy filed for divorce from Davis, listing their date of separation as November 15, 2017. Davis responded by filing a petition asserting that she and Jarrahy were never legally married. Their divorce was finalized in December 2021, and they agreed to change the last names of their two sons from "Davis-Jarrahy" to "Jarrahy."

8.1. Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

In 2004, while watching children's television programs and videos with her daughter, Davis observed a striking imbalance in the ratio of male to female characters. This observation prompted her to sponsor the largest-ever research project on gender in children's entertainment, conducted at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California. The study, led by Stacy Smith, revealed that there were nearly three male characters for every one female character across nearly 400 G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated films analyzed.

Driven by these findings, Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004 (some sources state 2007). The Institute collaborates with the entertainment industry to dramatically increase the presence of female characters in media aimed at children and to reduce both inequality in Hollywood and the stereotyping of females within the male-dominated industry. For her groundbreaking work in this field, Davis received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Bates College in May 2009. She was also honored with the prestigious Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, an honorary Oscar, in 2019, and the Governors Award (credited to the Institute) in 2022, recognizing the Institute's ongoing impact. Through the organization, she also launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in 2015, which highlights diversity in film, and executive produced the 2018 documentary This Changes Everything. In 2005, Davis collaborated with the non-profit organization Dads and Daughters to initiate a venture dedicated to balancing gender representation in children's television and film programming.

8.2. Other Advocacy

Beyond her work with the Geena Davis Institute, she is a staunch supporter of the Women's Sports Foundation and a vocal advocate for Title IX, a congressional act that focuses on equality in sports opportunities and has since expanded to prohibit gender discrimination in American educational institutions. In 2011, Davis joined other celebrities like Uma Thurman, Chanel Iman, and Josh Hartnett as part of the USAID and Ad Council's FWD campaign. This awareness initiative was tied to the East Africa drought of that year, with Davis participating in television and internet advertisements to "forward the facts" about the crisis.