Gina Gershon is an American actress and singer who rose to prominence for her stellar performances in numerous movies and TV shows. Some of her notable works include movies like, ‘Pretty in Pink’, ‘Cocktail’, ‘Face/Off’, ‘P.S. I Love You’, and ‘Killer Joe’. She is widely considered an LGBT icon for her portrayal of lesbian or bisexual characters in ‘Bound’ and ‘Showgirls’, etc. But her acting accolades extend beyond movies to TV. Her best-known TV roles have been in shows like ‘Cleaners’, ‘How to Make It in America’, ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’, ‘Red Oaks’, ‘Z Nation’, and ‘Riverdale’. Added to that, the accomplished actress has performed in a number of critically acclaimed plays. These include, ‘Cabaret’, ‘Boeing-Boeing’, and ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ to name a few. Gershon has also released an indie-rock album entitled ‘In Search of Cleo’. If that wasn’t enough, the actress turned into an author with the two books, ‘Camp Creepy Time’ and ‘In Search of Cleo: How I Found My Pussy and Lost My Mind’.
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Childhood & Early Life
Gina Gershon was born in Los Angeles, California, USA, on June 10, 1962. Her father was Stan Gershon and her mother was Mickey Gershon. She grew up in a Jewish family with an older brother, Dan and sister, Tracy.
She did her early education from ‘Collier Street Elementary School’ and then from ‘Woodland Hills Academy’ in Los Angeles. Gina completed her high school from the ‘Beverly Hills High School’ in 1980. It was around this time she fell in love with acting at the age of 14.
Gershon moved to Boston after completing her high school to attend the prestigious ‘Emerson College’. However, her love for acting drove her to transfer to ‘New York University’. She graduated in 1983, with a BFA degree specializing in drama, psychology, and philosophy.
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Career
Gina Gershon began her acting career on stage after starting to attend the ‘Square Professional Theater School’ in New York. She later went on to become a co-founder of the American theatre company ‘Naked Angels’.
She started her on-stage career by appearing in plays like ‘Camille’, ‘The Substance of Fire’, and ‘Nanawatai’. In 2001 (1998), Gina Gershon portrayed Sally Bowles, in the Broadway revival of ‘Cabaret’. In May 2008, she played Gabriella in ‘Boeing-Boeing’ and then played Rosie Alvarez, in the 2009 revival of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’.
Gina made a smooth transition from theatre to movies when she started auditioning. Her first breaks came as uncredited dancers in movies like ‘Beatlemania’ (1981) and ‘Girls Just Want to Have Fun’ (1985).
The actress landed her first credited role in the movie ‘Pretty in Pink’ (1986). She then made her TV debut with the movie ‘Stark: Mirror Image’ and the series ‘The Twilight Zone’.
In 1988, Gina Gershon delivered her first big blockbuster with ‘Cocktail’ and followed that up with the successful ‘City of Hope’ (1991). She was also becoming a familiar face on TV with critically acclaimed performances in series like ‘Sinatra’ (1992) and ‘Melrose Place’ (1993).
Gina achieved iconic status in the LGBT community in the 1990s. This was for her portrayal of LGBT characters in ‘Showgirls’ (1995) and ‘Bound’ (1996). However, both movies were commercial failures.
In the next few years, the actress experienced mixed fortunes in her movie career. ‘Face/Off’ (1997) was a massive hit. However, movies like ‘Lulu on the Bridge’ (1998), ‘Prague Duet’ (1998), and ‘Prey for Rock & Roll’ (2003), met with bad reviews.
Gershon did experience better fortunes in her TV endeavors. She had prominent roles in series like ‘Snoops’ (1999), ‘Just Shoot Me!’ (2002 – 2003), and ‘Tripping the Rift’ (2004). She also lent her voice to animated shows like ‘Spider-Man’ (2003), ‘The Batman’ (2004 – 2007), ‘Family Guy’ (2005), and ‘American Dad!’ (2005).
Some of Gina Gershon’s more notable TV appearances have been in hit shows like ‘How to Make It in America’ (2011), ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine’ (2017), and ‘Lost in Oz’ (2017 – 2018). In 2011, she earned several nominations for her performance in the movie ‘Killer Joe’.
Gina is also enjoying her pop culture hit performance as Gladys Jones in ‘Riverdale’ (2018 – present). She is also the voice of Regina in the animated ‘Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs’ (2019) and is starring in ‘Rifkin’s Festival’ (2020).
Major Works
Gina Gershon delivered one of her earliest blockbusters in ‘Cocktail’ (1988). Made on a budget of US $20 million, the movie made more than US $171 million at the box office.
Gershon tasted massive success with the 1997 action-thriller ‘Face/Off’. The movie became one of the highest-grossing movies of the year with a box office haul of more than US $245 million.
She is widely remembered as an LGBT icon for her portrayal of Corky in the mobster movie ‘Bound’ (1996). Her critically acclaimed performance of the lesbian character won her several award nominations.
Family & Personal Life
Gina Gershon is straight in spite of being considered an LGBT icon. She has dated several celebrities including, Beck Hansen, John Cusack, Travis Finnel, Bobby Kaiser, and Owen Wilson to name a few.
In 2015, reports emerged of her dating Belgian ex-soccer player turned businessman, Bobby Dekeyser. Gershon confirmed on January 29, 2018, that the two were no longer in a relationship. She is currently single.
