Gena Rowlands and John Cassavetes

2024 Author: Henry Conors | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-02-12 02:54

They were like a storm and fire, both devoted to cinema to the marrow. Director John Cassavetes and actress Gena Rowlands are one of the most famous couples in Hollywood. Contrary to the opinion that two creative personalities cannot get along together, and each will pull the "blanket" of attention and fame for themselves, they became a source of inspiration for each other and together created the best films not only in their careers, but also in the American cinema.

About her

"I never wanted to be anything other than an actress," Gena Rowlands admitted in an interview. Biography, filmography of a Hollywood star 60-70 years. of the last century cannot be retold in a nutshell. Throughout her career, she has appeared in more than 90 films and currently continues to be active in films.

Gina was born June 19, 1930 in Madison (Wisconsin) in the family of a housewife and a banker. She successfully graduated from the University of Wisconsin and received a professional acting education at the Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. As Gina admits, she has been in love with cinema since childhood and dreamed of becoming an actress. Indeed, it makes it possiblelive not one, but several lives. She made her screen debut in 1958 in José Ferrer's The High Price of Love.

About him

John Cassavetes was born December 9, 1929 in New York to a family of immigrants from Greece. He grew up on Long Island, was not distinguished by perseverance in his studies, but always attracted attention with his expressive character. After graduating from high school, John entered college, but was successfully expelled after the first semester due to poor grades. After that, he went to the American Academy of Arts, graduating in 1950. She gave him more than expected: an excellent education, prospects and a beautiful wife (Gina Rowlands).

John Cassavetes is considered one of the most important representatives of the independent American cinema. His films and ideas were further developed in the projects of Martin Scorsese, J. L. Godard, Jacques Rivette, Nanni Moretti. He has been nominated several times for an Oscar as a screenwriter, director and actor. John Cassavetes died in 1989 of cirrhosis of the liver.

Meeting

The meeting of future stars took place in December 1953 in New York. She is the daughter of a senator, a beautiful blonde with good manners, absolutely unflappable and purposeful. He is energetic and temperamental. Cassavetes later described the meeting as love at first sight. Turning then to his friend, he said that she would become his wife. Gena Rowlands, by her own admission, argued inthat time is colder: "I didn't want to fall in love, I didn't want to get married, I didn't want children." Be that as it may, but literally 3 months later (in April 1954), the couple got married. Speaking about them, friends cited the comparison of "cheese and chalk" as an example, emphasizing how different Cassavetes and Rowlands were. However, this did not stop them from living in marriage for 35 years, raising three wonderful children.

Children

John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands are the founders of a brilliant cinematic dynasty. During the years of marriage, they had three children: Nick (1959), Alexandra (1965) and Zoe (1970). All of them are currently working in the film industry. The eldest son - Nick Cassavetes - starred in his father's films from a young age. Now it is a popular American actor and director. In many of his films, including the project "Plucking the Stars", created according to the script of his father, he shoots his mother.

The middle daughter of the couple, Alexandra, is an actress familiar to viewers from the melodrama New York, I Love You. Zoe Cassavetes also became a director, like a father and older brother. Among her works are "Love with a Dictionary", "Beyond the Star", "Crazy Stage", "What is called love". The photo below shows the actress with her daughters.

Collaborations

Gina Rowlands (a biography in which interesting facts take up a lot of space is presented in the article) starred in ten films of her late husband John Cassavetes. Among them are the pictures, for the roles in which she was twice nominated for an Oscar: “Womanunder the influence" (1974) and "Gloria" (1980). The first picture is considered the best work of the actress in the cinema. According to her, it was originally a play, and when her husband first gave it to her to read, she was completely delighted. But Gina confessed to him that she would not be able to play in the theater eight times a week, that she simply did not have enough strength physically. After some time, John presented the script of the film to her, to which she replied: “If you give the main role to someone other than me, I will kill you!”

Their joint work began in 1959. Cassavetes came to his wife's theater to share his impressions of working on television and in films, then few of the troupe acted. All this eventually resulted in his debut film as a director, Shadows. As a result, John liked making a movie more than acting in it. Projects such as Baby Waiting (1963), Faces (1968), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), Streams of Love (1984) followed.

Muse and support, the ideological inspiration for Cassavetes was Gena Rowlands. Films require investments, and as you know, who pays, he tells what to do. The actress says that John did not want to be addicted and wanted to express his own opinion, so he shot pictures with his own money. “Our house was constantly mortgaged! In addition, he often served as a film set. No one got rich, but it was a wonderful time!” she admits.