Gina Gershon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Gina Gershon
Gershon in 2018
Born	Gina L. Gershon (1962-06-10) June 10, 1962 (age 62) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Alma mater	New York University (BFA '83)
Occupation	Actress, singer, author
Years active	1981–present
Known for	Bound Cocktail Showgirls Face/Off Killer Joe

Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American actress and singer. She has starred in such films as Cocktail (1988), Red Heat (1988), Showgirls (1995), Bound (1996), Face/Off (1997), The Insider (1999), Demonlover (2002), P.S. I Love You (2007), Five Minarets in New York (2010), Killer Joe (2011) and House of Versace (2013). She has also had supporting roles in FX's Rescue Me and HBO's How to Make It in America. She also portrayed Jughead's mom Gladys Jones on The CW teen drama series Riverdale and Lauren Bloom's mom Jeanie Bloom on the NBC medical series New Amsterdam.

Early life

Gershon was born in Los Angeles, to Mickey Gershon (née Koppel), an interior decorator, and Stan Gershon, who worked in the import-export business and sales. She was raised in a Jewish family in Los Angeles's San Fernando Valley. She has an older brother and an older sister.

Gershon went to Collier Street Elementary School and Woodland Hills Academy (formerly Parkman Junior High). She attended Beverly Hills High School and started acting at the age of 14. After graduating from high school in 1980, she moved to Boston to attend Emerson College. She transferred to New York University, and graduated with a BFA in drama and psychology/philosophy in 1983.

She has said she always wanted to be an actress, but her career began in music and dance.

Career

Theatre

Gershon attended the Circle in the Square Professional Theater School in New York, working first with David Mamet and later with Harold Guskin and Sandra Seacat, whom she has described in interviews as "a huge influence." Her first professional acting was in stage productions of Camille and The Substance of Fire.

She is one of the founding members of the New York-based theater group Naked Angels.

She has appeared on Broadway three times: as Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret; in the revival of Boeing-Boeing; and as Rosie Alvarez in the 2010 revival of Bye Bye Birdie at the Roundabout Theatre Company.

Film

Her break came with a bit part in Pretty in Pink (1986), which led to more substantial roles in Sweet Revenge with Nancy Allen, Cocktail with Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue, and John Sayles' urban drama City of Hope (1991). Also in 1991, she appeared in the action film Out for Justice opposite Steven Seagal, where she played Patti Madano, sister of the film's villain, Richie Madano (William Forsythe). Gershon also worked in television, with a recurring role on Melrose Place.

In 1996 she played Corky, an ex-con who gets mixed up in an affair with Violet (played by Jennifer Tilly) in the mobster flick Bound. In 1997 she co-starred with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in Face/Off.

Gershon in June 2011

Gershon is regarded as a gay icon for her roles in films such as Bound (in which she played a butch lesbian), Prey for Rock & Roll, and Showgirls (in which she played a bisexual showgirl, and which is regarded as a camp classic).

In 2011, Gershon appeared alongside Matthew McConaughey in Killer Joe, a dark comedy/thriller featuring director William Friedkin.

In 2017, Gershon starred in Bad Kids of Crestview Academy directed by Ben Browder, Lost Cat Corona directed by Anthony Tarsitano, the romantic comedy-drama Permission opposite Dan Stevens and Rebecca Hall directed by Brian Crano, Gershon co-starred alongside Nicolas Cage in the thriller Inconceivable, thriller film directed by Jonathan Baker. That same year, she starred in 9/11 directed by Martin Guigui revolving around the September 11 attacks opposite Whoopi Goldberg, Luis Guzmán and Charlie Sheen. The film was panned by critics.

In 2018, Gershon starred in the adventure drama American Dresser directed by Carmine Cangialosi, which was critically panned. Gershon then starred in the drama film After Everything directed by Hannah Marks and Joey Power, opposite Maika Monroe and Jeremy Allen White. The film had its world premiere at South by Southwest in March 2018, and was released in October 2018, to critical acclaim. She also had a small role in comedy Blockers directed by Kay Cannon, which was released on April 6, 2018, to critical and commercial success.

In 2020, Gershon starred in the sports film Cagefighter: Worlds Collide directed by Jesse Quinones. Gershon next starred in Rifkin's Festival directed by Woody Allen. Gershon will also star in With/In an anthology film set during the COVID-19 pandemic directing from a screenplay she wrote.

TV and online work

Gershon in May 2010

She portrayed Nancy Barbato, Frank Sinatra's 1st wife in the made-for-TV biopic Sinatra, in 1992. Gershon next had a recurring role on Melrose Place. Gershon made a guest appearance as herself on The Larry Sanders Show. Gershon next starred in the lead role of Glenn Hall in ABC's detective series Snoops created by David E. Kelley, which was cancelled after one season.

Gershon has made numerous guest and recurring appearances on various shows including HBO's comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm, FX's comedy-drama Rescue Me, ABC's Ugly Betty, USA Network's Psych, A recurring role on HBO's How to Make It in America.

Gershon voiced the role of Six in the adult animation series Tripping the Rift. Gershon also voiced the role of Catwoman in the 2007 animated series The Batman. From 2017 to 2018, Gershon voiced the role of Langwidere in Lost in Oz.

In 2013, Gershon starred in the television film House of Versace as Donatella Versace, which premiered on Lifetime. Gershon's performance earned praise from fashion critic Cathy Horyn. That same year, Gershon began starring in the Crackle action series Cleaners.

In 2015, Gershon made a guest appearance on Glee in the sixth and final season as Blaine's mother. From 2015 to 2017, Gershon had a recurring role on Amazon Prime Video's Red Oaks. She also appeared in two episodes of Elementary. That same year, Gershon had a recurring role on Z Nation. In 2016, Gershon guest starred on Empire. In 2017, Gershon guest starred on the HBO comedy series Crashing. That same year, Gershon had a recurring role in Brooklyn Nine-Nine as the villainous Lt. Melanie Hawkins. Gershon was cast in the E! dark comedy pilot #Fashionvictim opposite Willa Fitzgerald, which was not picked up to series. Since 2018, Gershon has had a recurring role on The CW drama Riverdale portraying the role of Jughead Jones's mother, Gladys. That same year, Gershon made a guest appearance on Younger.

In 2020, Gershon had a recurring role on New Amsterdam.

Gershon has appeared in two videos on FunnyorDie.com parodying former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, titled "Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin", and "Gina Gershon Does Sarah Palin 2". In 2016, Gershon parodied Melania Trump in a Funny or Die video "A Message from Melania Trump". Gershon additionally has played Trump on an episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, An Off-Broadway play, "The 1st Annual Trump Family Special". and in an episode of CBS All Access's The Good Fight.

Music

Gershon played Jaw harp on "I Can't Decide", a song on the Scissor Sisters 2006 release Ta-Dah. She also played Jaw harp on the song "I Do It For Your Love", Paul Simon's collaboration with Herbie Hancock on his album Possibilities, in a duo with bassist Christian McBride on the song "Chitlins and Gefiltefish", on McBride's 2011 album Conversations with Christian, and on "Maria" from her album In Search of Cleo.

She had a cameo role in The Cars 1984 music video "Hello Again" alongside Andy Warhol, and appeared in Lenny Kravitz's music video "Again".

Books

Gershon and her brother Dann are the authors of the children's book Camp Creepy Time.

Personal life

From 2015 to 2018, Gershon was in a relationship with Belgian entrepreneur and former footballer, Robert Dekeyser.

Acting credits

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Beatlemania	Dancer	Uncredited
1985	Girls Just Want to Have Fun	Dancer	Uncredited
1986	Pretty in Pink	Trombley, Girl Friend / Gym Class
	3:15 the Moment of Truth	Cobrettes
1987	Sweet Revenge	K.C.
1988	Red Heat	Catherine 'Cat' Manzetti
	Cocktail	Coral
1990	Voodoo Dawn	Tina
1991	City of Hope	Laurie Rinaldi
	Out for Justice	Patti Madano
	Jungle Fever	Angie's Neighbor	Scenes deleted
1992	The Player	Whitney Gersh
1993	Joey Breaker	Jenny Chaser
1994	Flinch	Daphne James
1995	Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back	Margo Preston
	Showgirls	Cristal Connors	Nominated – Razzie Award for Worst Supporting Actress
1996	Bound	Corky	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Actress Nominated – MTV Movie Award for Best Kiss
1997	This World, Then the Fireworks	Carol Lakewood Morton
	Touch	Debra Lusanne
	Face/Off	Sasha Hassler
1998	Palmetto	Nina
	Lulu on the Bridge	Hannah
	Prague Duet	Dr. Lauren Graham
	I'm Losing You	Lidia
	One Tough Cop	Joey O'Hara
1999	Guinevere	Billie
	The Insider	Helen Caperelli
2001	Driven	Cathy Heguy
	Picture Claire	Lily Warden
2002	Slackers	Girl at Trendy Club	Uncredited
	Demonlover	Elaine Si Gibril
2003	Prey for Rock & Roll	Jacki	Also producer
2004	Three Way	Florence DeCroix Hagen	Also known as 3-Way
	Out of Season	Eileen Phillips
2005	One Last Thing...	Arlene
2006	Dreamland	Mary
	Man About Town	Arlene Kreiner
	Kettle of Fish	Ginger
	I Want Someone to Eat Cheese With	Herself as Marty's Mother
	Delirious	Dana
2007	What Love Is	Rachel
	P.S. I Love You	Sharon McCarthy
2008	Just Business	Marty Jameson
	Beer for My Horses	Cammie
	Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin	Sarah Palin	Short film
2009	The Goods: Live Hard, Sell Hard	Unknown	Uncredited
2010	Love Ranch	Irene
	Five Minarets in New York	Maria	Also known as Act of Vengeance and The Terrorist
	Across the Line: The Exodus of Charlie Wright	Mariel Garza
2011	Killer Joe	Sharla Smith	Toronto Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress
2012	LOL	Kathy
	Breathless	Lorna
2013	Dealin' with Idiots	Sophie
2014	The Scribbler	Cleo
	Mall	Donna	Also known as Mall: A Day to Kill
	The Lookalike	Lee Garner
	Sharklumbo	Widow	Short film
	Me	Gina Gershon
2015	Staten Island Summer	Ms. Greeley
2016	A Message from Melania Trump	Melania Trump	Short film
	My Dead Boyfriend	Helene
2017	Bad Kids of Crestview Academy	Senator Wilkes
	Lost Cat Corona	Connie
	Permission	Lydia
	Inconceivable	Angela
	9/11	Eve Cage
2018	After Everything	Tracy
	Blockers	Cathy
	The Little Mermaid	Peggy Gene
	American Dresser	Sandra
2019	The Investigation: A Search for the Truth in Ten Acts	K. T. McFarland / Rick Gates	Live reading of excerpts from the Mueller Report
	Red Shoes and the Seven Dwarfs	Regina	Voice
2020	The Mimic	The Woman at the Bar
	Cagefighter: Worlds Collide	Max Drake
	Rifkin's Festival	Sue
	People in Landscape	Alex's Mother
2021	With/In: Volume 2	Unknown	Segment: "Shell Game"; also director and writer
	Don't Look Up	Kathy Logolos	Deleted scenes
2022	Emily the Criminal	Alice
2023	Thanksgiving	Amanda Collins
	The Trainer	TBA	Post-production
2024	Borderlands	Mad Moxxi	Post-production
TBA	Tapawingo	TBA	Post-production

Key

Denotes films that have not yet been released

Television

Theater

Music

Podcast

See also

In Spanish: Gina Gershon para niños