{"id":137643,"date":"2025-06-19T08:00:32","date_gmt":"2025-06-19T12:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=137643"},"modified":"2025-06-19T09:26:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-19T13:26:02","slug":"happy-birthday-gena-rowlands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=137643","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;Some of the time, when you\u2019re walking out there where the air is thin, you just hope you can walk back again.\u201d &#8212; Gena Rowlands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_nppns648Zk1qzgwh4o2_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"270\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137644\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nIt&#8217;s her birthday today. The quote in the headline was Rowlands talking about playing Mabel in <i>A Woman Under the Influence<\/i>, but it could be said about many of her roles, particularly the ones she did in her husband&#8217;s films. Far far out there on a limb, or on a mountaintop, without an oxygen tank, without a net, whatever metaphor you want. That&#8217;s how far out she goes. <\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve written so much about her, my favorite living actress, and here&#8217;s a roundup: <\/p>\n<p>For the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.criterion.com\/films\/28032-love-streams\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Criterion release of <i>Love Streams<\/i><\/a>, I wrote and narrated a video essay about Rowlands&#8217; work with Cassavetes. Here&#8217;s an excerpt from the video (the whole thing is in the Special Features on the DVD): <\/p>\n<p>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/9nZs9o_IwIc\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>\nWhen Gena Rowlands received her Lifetime Achievement Oscar, I was hired to write the narration for the tribute reel played at the ceremony. Angelina Jolie read what I wrote. Unfortunately, it isn&#8217;t online. (It was a trophy moment, personally to hear &#8220;Angie&#8221; saying MY words.)<\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/gena_rowlands_spike_lee-620x489.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"620\" height=\"489\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137645\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/gena_rowlands_spike_lee-620x489.png 620w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/gena_rowlands_spike_lee-620x489-100x79.png 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/gena_rowlands_spike_lee-620x489-200x158.png 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/gena_rowlands_spike_lee-620x489-400x315.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 620px) 100vw, 620px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nHere&#8217;s Gena Rowlands&#8217; highly entertaining speech at her Lifetime Achivement ceremony, complete w\/Bette Davis anecdote (they did an amazing TV movie together, &#8220;Strangers.&#8221;)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/MweCcZfbE2Q\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"autoplay; encrypted-media\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/06\/tumblr_m5hos6eiXw1ro2c2ro1_400.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"383\" height=\"216\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-169000\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nI wrote the booklet essay &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=141572\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">reprinted here<\/a> &#8211; for Arrow Film&#8217;s release of <i>Another Woman<\/i> (<a href=\"https:\/\/arrowfilms.com\/product-detail\/woody-allen-seven-films-1986-1991-blu-ray\/FCD1280\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">part of a Woody Allen box set<\/a>) &#8211; it&#8217;s one of her best performances, and it&#8217;s rarely discussed. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1280\" height=\"674\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137646\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands.png 1280w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands-100x53.png 100w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands-200x105.png 200w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands-768x404.png 768w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/a5237-gena2browlands-400x211.png 400w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nHere&#8217;s my report for Rogerebert.com on a QA she did after a SAG screening of <i>Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/balder-and-dash\/witness-to-a-legend-the-career-of-gena-rowlands\" target=\"blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Witness to a Legend: The Career of Gena Rowlands<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_p9ynmeIsWn1ugv7b3o1_500.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"500\" height=\"278\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137647\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nAlso for Rogerebert.com, I wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/balder-and-dash\/gena-rowlands-a-life-on-film\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">&#8220;Gena Rowlands: A Life in Film,&#8221;<\/a> to highlight the career entire, not just the films she did with John Cassavetes. <\/p>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/f06c9c837fd8513ef2632f2ac79539a5.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"540\" height=\"298\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137648\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\nWhen I interviewed Dan Callahan about his <i>The Art of American Screen Acting<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=145370\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">we discussed Gena Rowlands<\/a>, of course. <\/p>\n<p>I wrote about <i><a href=\"https:\/\/sheilaomalley.substack.com\/p\/outside-inside-john-cassavetes-minnie\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Minnie and Moskowitz<\/a><\/i> for my Substack.<\/p>\n<p>For my column at Liberties, I wrote about Cassavetes and Rowlands, <i>Opening Night<\/i>, and Tennessee Williams&#8217; <i>Two-Character Play<\/i>: <a href=\"https:\/\/libertiesjournal.com\/online-articles\/j-cassavetes-t-williams-and-beautiful-insanity\/\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">John Cassavetes, Tennessee Williams, and Intelligent Insanity<\/a><\/p>\n<p>And finally, because it was only right, I wrote a tribute to her when she died: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/tributes\/a-woman-without-peers-gena-rowlands-1930-2024\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">A Woman Without Peers<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>Even that tribute wasn&#8217;t enough, so <a href=\"https:\/\/sheilaomalley.substack.com\/p\/gena-rowlands\" rel=\"noopener\" target=\"_blank\">I wrote another one<\/a>. <\/p>\n<h3>\u201cWhen Gena and I are home together, we\u2019re husband and wife. On the set, we\u2019re deadly combatants. We have great respect for each other, like enemies do.\u201d \u2013 John Cassavetes<\/h3>\n<p>\n<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_mhk5i04uTR1qzg2mso1_1280.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"546\" height=\"734\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-137651\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_mhk5i04uTR1qzg2mso1_1280.png 546w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_mhk5i04uTR1qzg2mso1_1280-74x100.png 74w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_mhk5i04uTR1qzg2mso1_1280-149x200.png 149w, https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/tumblr_mhk5i04uTR1qzg2mso1_1280-298x400.png 298w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 546px) 100vw, 546px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s her birthday today. The quote in the headline was Rowlands talking about playing Mabel in A Woman Under the Influence, but it could be said about many of her roles, particularly the ones she did in her husband&#8217;s films. &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/?p=137643\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7,4,39],"tags":[195,550,1399],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137643"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=137643"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137643\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":200017,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/137643\/revisions\/200017"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=137643"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=137643"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sheilaomalley.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=137643"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}