Born: 1956
Biography:
Virginia Elizabeth Geena Davis (born January 21, 1956) is an American actor and producer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award.
After studying drama at Boston University, Davis made her acting debut in the film Tootsie (1982) and eventually starred in the thriller The Fly (1986), which proved to be one of her first box office hits. While the fantasy comedy Beetlejuice (1988) brought her to prominence, the drama The Accidental Tourist (1988) earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
She established herself as a leading lady with the road film Thelma & Louise (1991), for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress, and the sports film A League of Their Own (1992), garnering a Golden Globe Award nomination. However, Davis’s roles in the box office failures Cutthroat Island (1995) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), both directed by then-husband Renny Harlin, were followed by a lengthy break and downturn in her career.
Davis starred as the adoptive mother of the titular character in the Stuart Little franchise (1999–2005) and as the first female president of the United States in the television series Commander in Chief (2005–2006), winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for her role in the latter. Her later films include Accidents Happen (2009) and Marjorie Prime (2017). She has portrayed the recurring role of Dr. Nicole Herman in Grey’s Anatomy (2014–2015, 2018) and that of Regan MacNeil–Angela Rance in the first season of the horror television series The Exorcist (2017).
In 2004, Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to dramatically increase the presence of female characters in media. Through the organization, she launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in 2015, and executive produced the documentary This Changes Everything in 2018. Thanks to the organization, she was awarded with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award bestowed by the Academy Awards in 2019 and with the Governors Award given by the Primetime Emmy Awards in 2022.
Awards:
– Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Accidental Tourist (1988)
– Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama for Commander in Chief (2005)
– Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award bestowed by the Academy Awards (2019)
– Governors Award given by the Primetime Emmy Awards (2022)