Rod Lurie ( Hebrew : רוד לוריא ; born May 15, 1962) is an American director, screenwriter, and former film critic.
54-728: The son of internationally syndicated cartoonist Ranan Lurie , he was born in Israel but moved to the United States at a young age, growing up in Greenwich, Connecticut , and Honolulu, Hawaii . Graduating from the United States Military Academy at West Point in 1984, he served in the U.S. Army as an air defense artillery officer , then became an entertainment reporter and film critic, including stints at News12 in Norwalk, Connecticut ,
108-541: A New Mexico election. Despite negative reviews and modest box office returns, she earned her second nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for her performance. Davis teamed up with her then-husband, director Renny Harlin , for the films Cutthroat Island (1995) and The Long Kiss Goodnight (1996), with Harlin hoping that they would turn her into an action star. While The Long Kiss Goodnight managed to become
162-433: A 2016 interview with Vulture , she recalled: "Film roles really did start to dry up when I got into my 40s. If you look at IMDb , up until that age, I made roughly one film a year. In my entire 40s, I made one movie, Stuart Little . I was getting offers, but for nothing meaty or interesting like in my 30s. I'd been completely ruined and spoiled. I mean, I got to play a pirate captain! I got to do every type of role, even if
216-607: A Time in Hollywood: Moviemaking, Con Games, and Murder in Glitter City , was published. Lurie's first foray into filmmaking, as writer and director, was the low-budget political thriller Deterrence (1999), with Kevin Pollak as the first Jewish President of the United States. His second was The Contender (2000), starring Gary Oldman . It was written for Joan Allen and co-stars Jeff Bridges and Christian Slater . It
270-569: A West Point sweatshirt during the film. The characters of President Jackson Evans ( The Contender ), prison inmate Lt. Gen. Eugene Irwin ( The Last Castle ), FBI agent Paige Van Doren ( Line of Fire ), and vice presidential nominee Gen. (ret.) Warren Keaton ( Commander in Chief ) are all fictional graduates of the "Long Gray Line" . Lurie also directed the remake of the home invasion thriller Straw Dogs . It received negative reviews from both audience viewers and critics, and did very poorly at
324-555: A World... (2013), the directorial debut of Lake Bell . Bell found her only dialogue to be her favorite in the film and called it her "soapbox moment". In 2014, Davis provided her voice for the English version of the Studio Ghibli animated film When Marnie Was There , as she was drawn to the film's abundant stories and strong use of female characters. She played the recurring role of Dr. Nicole Herman, an attending fetal surgeon with
378-486: A child fathered by Harlin. The divorce became final in June 1998. In 1998, Davis started dating Iranian-American craniofacial plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy, and allegedly married him on September 1, 2001. They have three children: a daughter born April 2002, and fraternal twin sons born May 2004. In May 2018, Jarrahy filed for divorce from Davis, listing their date of separation as November 15, 2017. Davis responded by filing
432-520: A drifter; in his 2020 Oscar acceptance speech for Best Supporting Actor, Pitt thanked director Ridley Scott and Davis for "giving me my first shot." In 1992, Davis starred alongside Madonna and Tom Hanks in the sports comedy-drama A League of Their Own as a baseball player on an all-women's team. It reached number one at the box office , became the tenth highest-grossing film of the year in North America, and earned Davis her first nomination for
486-514: A familiar type of coming-of-age film whose most distinguishing feature is the presence of the actress". In 2018, Davis returned to Grey's Anatomy , reprising the role of Dr. Nicole Herman in the show's 14th season , and executive produced the documentary This Changes Everything , in which she was also interviewed about her experiences in the industry. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival , where it
540-587: A lengthy break and downturn in her career. Davis starred as the adoptive mother of the title 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
594-480: A life-threatening brain tumor, during the 11th season of Grey's Anatomy (2014–2015). In 2015, Davis launched an annual film festival to be held in Bentonville, Arkansas , to highlight diversity in film, accepting films that prominently feature minorities and women in the cast and crew. The first Bentonville Film Festival took place from May 5–9, 2015. Davis appeared as the mother of a semi-famous television star in
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#1732858722813648-568: A long period of intermittent work, Davis often ventured into television acting, and through her organization, the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media , saw her career expand during the 2010s. In 2012, she starred as a psychiatrist in the miniseries Coma , based on the 1977 novel Coma by Robin Cook and the subsequent 1978 film . She played a powerful female movie executive in the comedy In
702-621: A man who, dressed as a clown, robs a bank in midtown Manhattan, in the comedy Quick Change (1990). Based on a book of the same name by Jay Cronley , it is a remake of the 1985 French film Hold-Up starring Jean-Paul Belmondo . Despite modest box office returns, the Chicago Tribune found the lead actors "funny and creative while keeping their characters life-size". Davis next starred with Susan Sarandon in Ridley Scott 's road film Thelma & Louise (1991), as friends who embark on
756-475: A moderate success, Cutthroat Island flopped critically and commercially and was once listed as having the "largest box office loss" by Guinness World Records . The film is credited to be a contributing factor in the demise of Davis as a bankable star . By the mid and late 1990s, Davis's film career had become less noteworthy as she divorced Harlin in 1998 and took an "unusually long" two years off to reflect on her career, according to The New York Times . In
810-729: A petition in which she claimed that she and Jarrahy were never legally married. Their divorce became final in December 2021. They agreed to change the last names of their two sons from "Davis-Jarrahy" to "Jarrahy". Davis is a supporter of the Women's Sports Foundation and an advocate for Title IX , an Act of Congress focusing on equality in sports opportunities, now expanded to prohibit gender discrimination in American educational institutions. In 2004, while watching children's television programs and videos with her daughter, Davis noticed an imbalance in
864-506: A recently deceased young couple who become ghosts haunting their former house; it also starred Alec Baldwin , Michael Keaton and Winona Ryder . It made $ 73.7 million from a budget of $ 15 million, and Davis's performance and the overall film received mostly positive reviews. Davis took on the role of an animal hospital employee and dog trainer with a sickly son in the romantic drama The Accidental Tourist (1988), alongside William Hurt and Kathleen Turner . Critic Roger Ebert , who gave
918-577: A road trip with unforeseen consequences. A critical and commercial success, it is considered a classic, as it influenced other films and artistic works and became a landmark feminist film . Davis' performance in the film earned her nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress , the BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Drama . It also featured Brad Pitt in his breakout role as
972-416: A soap opera actor, whom she has described as "someone who's going to be in their underwear a lot of time". It was the second most profitable film of 1982, received ten Academy Awards nominations and is considered a classic . She next won the regular part of Wendy Killian in the television series Buffalo Bill , which aired from June 1983 to March 1984; and had a writing credit in one episode. Despite
1026-472: A time, on screen and in the real world. Davis began dating restaurateur Richard Emmolo in December 1977 and moved in with him a month later. The two married on March 25, 1981, but separated in February 1983 and divorced on June 27, 1984. She then dated future Thelma & Louise co-star Christopher McDonald , to whom she was briefly engaged. In 1985, she met her second husband, actor Jeff Goldblum , on
1080-452: Is an American actor. She is the recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award . Davis made her acting debut in the satirical romantic comedy Tootsie (1982) and eventually starred in the science-fiction thriller The Fly (1986), one of her first box office hits. While the fantasy comedy Beetlejuice (1988) brought her to prominence, the romantic drama The Accidental Tourist (1988) earned her
1134-628: The New York Daily News , Premiere , Movieline , Entertainment Weekly , Los Angeles , and talk radio shows at KMPC and KABC , where his tactical on-air bets with Martin Landau , Mel Gibson and James Cameron that they would win the Oscar resulted in them having to pay up at the Academy Awards ceremony by publicly thanking him in their acceptance speeches. As an investigative reporter in
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#17328587228131188-497: 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
1242-464: The Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy . She played a television reporter in the comedy Hero (also 1992) alongside Dustin Hoffman and Andy Garcia . Although it flopped at the box office, Roger Ebert felt Davis was "bright and convincing as the reporter (her best line, after surviving the plane crash, is shouted through an ambulance door: "This is my story! I did
1296-649: The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series . She was awarded the 2006 Women in Film Lucy Award . Davis was the only American actor to be cast in the Australian-produced film Accidents Happen (2009), portraying a foul-mouthed and strict mother. She stated that it
1350-626: The Truth , which is based on the stories of Valerie Plame and Judith Miller , which stars Kate Beckinsale , Matt Dillon , Angela Bassett , Alan Alda and David Schwimmer . Lurie insisted his film is not intended to be an accurate depiction of the Plame Affair , but merely a vehicle to explore a similar situation, which he then takes several steps further. "You look at the story that happened in reality, and Judy Miller gets some sort of permission to speak and then speaks. So what? Nothing really big came of
1404-548: The best new show that fall. Then, in January, we were opposite American Idol . They said, 'The ratings are going to suffer, so we should take you off the air for the entire run of Idol , and bring it back in May. I put a lot of time and effort into getting it on another network, too, but it didn't work". Her performance in the series earned her the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama , in addition to nominations for
1458-545: The box office. Lurie directed the 2020 war film The Outpost , based on the true story of the Battle of Kamdesh during the War in Afghanistan . The film received highly positive reviews, with significant praise for the battle sequences and depictions of the soldiers. In September 2021, Lurie said he was working on a boxing epic set at West Point. Lurie's most recent film The Senior
1512-426: The comedy Me Him Her (2016). In the television series The Exorcist (2016), based on the 1973 film of the same name , Davis took on the role of grown-up Regan MacNeil , who has renamed herself Angela Rance to find peace and anonymity from her ordeal as a child. The Exorcist was a success with critics and audiences. In 2017, Davis starred in the film adaptation Marjorie Prime , alongside Jon Hamm , playing
1566-565: The daughter of an 85-year old experiencing the first symptoms of Alzheimer's disease , and appeared as the imaginary god of a heavyset 13-year-old girl in the comedy Don't Talk to Irene . Vanity Fair wrote that she stole "every scene" in Marjorie Prime , while Variety , on her role in Don't Talk to Irene , remarked: "There's no arguing the preternatural coolness of Geena Davis, a fact celebrated in self-conscious fashion by Don't Talk to Irene ,
1620-427: The entertainment industry, his discovery of unethical and illegal practices at tabloid newspapers gained him national exposure on programs such as 60 Minutes , Entertainment Tonight , Larry King Live , Nightline , and Geraldo . His irreverent style, however (he once described Danny DeVito as a "testicle with arms"), often raised controversy and got him banned from screenings. In 1995, his book Once Upon
1674-412: The film four stars out of four, wrote: "Davis, as Muriel, brings an unforced wackiness to her role in scenes like the one where she belts out a song while she's doing the dishes. But she is not as simple as she sometimes seems [...]". The film emerged as a critical and commercial success, and Davis' performance earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress . Davis appeared as the girlfriend of
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1728-401: The first female president of the United States. While this role garnered her a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2006, the series was cancelled after its first season; Davis admitted she was "devastated" by its cancellation in a 2016 interview. "I still haven't gotten over it. I really wanted it to work. It was on Tuesday nights opposite House , which wasn't ideal. But we were
1782-429: The lead role of Sarah Connor , which eventually went to Linda Hamilton . In Fletch (1985), an action comedy, she appeared with Chevy Chase as the colleague of a Los Angeles Times undercover reporter trying to expose drug trafficking on the beaches of Los Angeles. She also starred in the horror comedy Transylvania 6-5000 as a nymphomaniac vampire alongside future husband Jeff Goldblum . They also starred in
1836-535: The movie failed." She appeared as Eleanor Little in the well-received family comedy Stuart Little (1999), a role she reprised in Stuart Little 2 (2002) and again in Stuart Little 3: Call of the Wild (2005). Davis starred in the sitcom The Geena Davis Show , which aired for one season on ABC during the 2000–01 U.S. television season . She went on to star in the ABC television series Commander in Chief , portraying
1890-409: The nearly 400 G, PG, PG-13, and R-rated movies analyzed. In 2005, Davis teamed up with the non-profit group Dads and Daughters to launch a venture dedicated to balancing the number of male and female characters in children's television and movie programming. Davis launched the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004, which works collaboratively with the entertainment industry to increase
1944-606: The organization, she launched the annual Bentonville Film Festival in 2015, and executive produced the documentary This Changes Everything in 2018. Davis received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in 2019 and the Governors Award in 2022. Geena Davis was born on January 21, 1956, in Wareham, Massachusetts . Her mother, Lucille ( née Cook ), was a teacher's assistant, and her father, William F. Davis,
1998-744: The presence of female characters in media aimed at children, and to reduce inequality in Hollywood and the stereotyping of females by the male-dominated industry. For her work in this field she received an honorary Doctor of Fine Arts degree from Bates College in May 2009; and an honorary Oscar, the Academy's Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award , in 2019. In 2011, Davis became one of a handful of celebrities attached to USAID and Ad Council 's FWD campaign, an awareness initiative tied to that year's East Africa drought. She joined Uma Thurman , Chanel Iman and Josh Hartnett in television and internet ads to "forward
2052-520: The ratio of male to female characters. She went on to sponsor the largest-ever research project on gender in children's entertainment (resulting in four discrete studies, including one on children's television) at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California . The study, directed by Stacy Smith, showed that there were nearly three male characters to every female one in
2106-453: 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
2160-530: The research!")". In 1994's Angie , Davis played an office worker who lives in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and dreams of a better life. The film received mixed reviews from critics, despite much praise for Davis, and was a commercial failure. In her other 1994 release, the romantic comedy Speechless , Davis reunited with Michael Keaton to play insomniac writers who fall in love until they realize that both are writing speeches for rival candidates in
2214-448: The sci-fi thriller The Fly (1986), loosely based on George Langelaan 's 1957 short story of the same name , where Davis portrayed a science journalist and an eccentric scientist's love interest. It was a commercial success and helped establish her as an actor. In 1987 she appeared with Goldblum again in the offbeat comedy Earth Girls Are Easy . Director Tim Burton cast Davis in his horror comedy Beetlejuice (1988) as one of
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2268-456: The series' eleven Emmy Awards nominations, lukewarm ratings led to its cancellation after two seasons. Davis concurrently guest-starred in Knight Rider , Riptide , Family Ties and Remington Steele , and followed with a series of her own, Sara , which lasted 13 episodes. During this period, she also auditioned for the 1984 science fiction/action film The Terminator , reading for
2322-469: The set of Transylvania 6-5000 . The couple married on November 1, 1987, and appeared together in two more films: The Fly and Earth Girls Are Easy . Davis filed for divorce in October 1990, and it was finalized the following year. In 2022, Davis told People that her relationship with him "was a magical chapter in my life" and that she liked being wed to a fellow actor because they understood what she
2376-635: The show and its cancellation followed. Lurie worked for ABC , but his contract, which was terminated during the writers' strike , was not renewed when it ended. Lurie places tributes to his alma mater in his shows: Deterrence had an aide-de-camp to the President admitting he had to settle for the United States Air Force Academy because he couldn't get into West Point. Also, in The Contender , Bridges' president Evans can be seen wearing
2430-560: The whole thing," explained Lurie in an interview published prior to the film's release. "I tried to make a movie that's a commercial thriller as well as being something that's topical." Lurie worked on Resurrecting the Champ , a boxing drama, and served as creator and executive producer of the short-lived television series Commander in Chief , which starred Geena Davis as the United States' first female President , Mackenzie Allen . The show's high ratings plummeted after Lurie's departure from
2484-536: Was a civil engineer and church deacon . Both were from small towns in Vermont . Davis has an older brother, Danforth ("Dan"). 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. She attended Wareham High School and
2538-542: Was a critical success (76 percent positive on Rotten Tomatoes) and garnered Academy Award nominations for both Allen and Bridges. His next directing effort, The Last Castle (2001) with Robert Redford and James Gandolfini , was a commercial failure; as was Line of Fire , his 2003–04 TV series about the FBI 's office in Richmond, Virginia , which starred David Paymer as a mob boss. Lurie then wrote and directed Nothing But
2592-607: Was an exchange student in Sandviken , Sweden , where she became fluent in Swedish . She wanted to study acting at Boston University but missed the required audition during her year in Sweden, so she began her college education at New England College before transferring to Boston University ; she didn't earn enough credits to graduate, having received an incomplete in at least one class and an F in movement class. Her first post-university work
2646-409: Was as a model for window mannequins at Ann Taylor ; she then signed with New York's Zoli modeling agency . In her 2022 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 (1982) as
2700-479: Was going through and "was not in competition" with her. Security expert and author Gavin de Becker was Davis' boyfriend during the early 1990s. After a five-month courtship, she married filmmaker Renny Harlin on September 18, 1993. He directed her in Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight . Davis filed for divorce on August 26, 1997, a day after her personal assistant Tiffany Browne gave birth to
2754-604: Was named first runner-up for the People's Choice Award: Documentaries . In 2019, she joined the voice cast of She-Ra and the Princesses of Power as Huntara, and executive produced CBS educational show Mission Unstoppable through her organization . The same year, she joined the cast of GLOW as Sandy Devereaux St. Clair, a former showgirl turned entertainment director of the Fan-Tan Hotel and Casino. In 2022, Davis' likeness
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#17328587228132808-765: Was released in 2023. Lurie lives in Los Angeles with his wife, author Kyra Davis . He has three children, Hunter, Paige, and Isaac. Hunter died on July 2, 2018, aged 27 from a cardiac arrest. Lurie adopted his stepson Isaac in 2023. Ranan Lurie Too Many Requests If you report this error to the Wikimedia System Administrators, please include the details below. Request from 172.68.168.151 via cp1112 cp1112, Varnish XID 381961817 Upstream caches: cp1112 int Error: 429, Too Many Requests at Fri, 29 Nov 2024 05:38:42 GMT Geena Davis Virginia Elizabeth " Geena " Davis (born January 21, 1956)
2862-405: Was the most fun she had ever had on a film set, and felt a deep friendship and connection to both of the actors who played her sons. Written by Brian Carbee and based on his own childhood and adolescence, the film received a limited theatrical release and mixed reviews from critics. Variety found it to be "led by a valiant Geena Davis", despite a "script that mistakes abuse for wit". Following
2916-592: Was used for the character of Poison Ivy in the DC Entertainment comic book series Batman '89 , set between the events of Batman Returns (1992) and The Flash (2023). Davis has been a frequent guest narrator at Disney's Candlelight Processional , appearing at Disneyland in 2015 and Disney World in 2011, 2012, and 2019. In October 2022, HarperOne published Davis's Dying of Politeness: A Memoir of her journey from childhood conventional New England femininity and trauma to feminist "badassery", one role at
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