Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy Tootsie and starred in the science-fiction thriller The Fly , one of her first box office hits. While the fantasy comedy Beetlejuice brought her to prominence, the romantic drama The Accidental Tourist earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. However, Davis's roles in the box office failures Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight , 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 title character in the Stuart Little franchise β and as the first female president of the United States in the television series Commander in Chief β , winning the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress β Television Series Drama for her role in the latter.
Her later films include Accidents Happen and Marjorie Prime She has portrayed the recurring role of Dr. In , Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media , which works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to increase the presence of female characters in media. Through the organization, she launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in , and executive produced the documentary This Changes Everything in Geena Davis was born on January 21, , in Wareham, Massachusetts.
Davis, was a civil engineer and church deacon. Both were from small towns in Vermont. She became interested in music at an early age. She learned piano and flute and played organ well enough as a teenager to be organist at her Congregational church in Wareham.
Davis was also a cheerleader and was cheer captain her senior year of high school. In her memoir, she states that her brother came up with the nickname Geena shortly after her birth to differentiate her from her Aunt Virginia, who went by the nickname Ginny. Davis was working as a model when she was cast by director Sydney Pollack in his film Tootsie as a soap opera actor, whom she has described as "someone who's going to be in their underwear a lot of time".
