Main Facts
Geena Davis was born on January 21st, 1956, in Massachusetts. She has been awarded an Oscar for her performance in The Accidental Tourist. In 1991, she caused a sensation with her role in Thelma and Louise. She has also received a Golden Globe for the series Commander and Chief.
Beginning of Career
When she was at high school, she experienced some uneasiness because she was very tall. She graduated from Boston University in 1979 and then started working as a model in New York. She first appeared in a small role in Tootsie, the 1982 comedy with Dustin Hoffman. Her career began to gain momentum with a role on the sitcom Family Ties.
In 1986, she acted in the cult film The Fly. She became known for playing peculiar characters, such as a ghost in Beetlejuice, in 1988. In this year, she also received an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in The Accidental Tourist. She co-starred with Susan Sarandon in the popular road movie Thelma and Louise in 1991. Its topic was friendship between women; the film had a big impact on viewers. She received further recognition for her role in A League of Their Own in 1992. Later, she played in action films, such as Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight. Towards the end of the 1990s, there is not anything important to relate about her career, apart from her role in Stuart Little in 1999.
Activism and Acting
In 2004, she established the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which has conducted investigations on the representation of women in family films. These have shown that there is only one female character for every three male characters. Geena and the Institute work to convince those who produce works for children to rectify this disproportion. In 2005, the actress has also played a powerful female character, President Mackenzie Allen, in the T.V. series Commander in Chief and was awarded the Golden Globe for her performance. More recently, she has participated in the dramatic comedy Accidents Happen, and in the T.V. miniseries Coma. She is still involved in her Institute and holds speeches about the representation of women in media.
Private Life
The actress married four times. Her present husband is Dr. Reza Jarrahy, an Iranian-American surgeon. The couple has three children. Geena is also a great archer, and participated in the Olympic semifinals as a member of the U.S. archery team in 1999.
What can you take away from her work? Geena took action to change something that she believed was important for children – particularly young girls. She voiced the inequality that was prevalent within the industry.
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