She lit up the 1980s with her groundbreaking talent, rising from model to Oscar‑winning actress almost overnight.
But behind the glitz and fame was a hidden struggle — and a childhood brush with death at just 8 years old.
Amish‑like upbringing
Few actors of the ’90s captured hearts and critical acclaim quite like this star. With her signature dimples and magnetic presence, she was pure Hollywood magic, turning every role into a display of raw talent from the very beginning of her acting journey.
Born on January 21, 1958, in Wareham, Massachusetts, she realized early on that performing was her true calling.
“I was three years old, and how I even knew it was a job, I have no idea, because we were only allowed to watch Disney movies, which were animated.”
Her parents, Bill and Lucille, were practical, old‑fashioned people — so much so that she has joked they “would have been Amish had they heard of being Amish.”
She and her older brother, Dan, were raised with a strong emphasis on politeness and proper behavior.
Reflecting on her New England upbringing, she said, “My parents are both from Vermont, very old‑fashioned New England. We heated our house with wood my father chopped. My mom grew all of our food. We were very underexposed to everything.”
When she almost died
Even though this actress grew up in a sheltered world, far from Hollywood’s glitz and scandals, she still faced tragic and frightening moments during childhood.
She revealed that she came terrifyingly close to death at age 8 during a harrowing drive with her 99‑year‑old great‑uncle Jack. As he drifted in and out of oncoming traffic, neither she nor her parents spoke up about his reckless driving, even as a car sped toward them. At the last second, Jack corrected his path, narrowly avoiding a head‑on collision. The experience left a lasting lesson: always remain polite, no matter the situation.
This struggle — being too polite to stand up for herself — became the central theme of her 2022 memoir, Dying of Politeness.
The horrible secret she carried
In her book, she also revealed a deeply traumatic childhood event: being molested by a neighbor while delivering his newspaper.
Like many survivors, she didn’t fully grasp the seriousness of what happened until adulthood.
“It caused a lot of shame in me that that happened because I didn’t know what he was doing when he was touching me in that way. I didn’t know that it was wrong. I had no reaction to it, and then to see my mother’s reaction, [it was like], ‘Oh, my God, this was a big deal. I did something terribly wrong,’” she told Vanity Fair. Her mother confronted the neighbor, but no police report was filed.
“I knew that he was also to blame because she strolled up the street and told him never to touch me again and then told me never to go up the stairs to his apartment again. But she didn’t explain what had happened or why it was bad to do the thing that he was doing, so it just felt like this horrible secret that I was carrying around.”
“My big lesson in life was you can’t ever complain about anything,” she said.
“You can’t draw that kind of attention to yourself by complaining about something. So I didn’t talk about it, but I wanted to talk about it.”
Bullied by classmates
Another defining factor in her youth was her height. In high school, she was the tallest girl in her class — a trait that, instead of boosting her confidence, often weighed heavily on her self‑esteem.
“They always wanted me on the basketball team, but I wasn’t too good,” she told The Chilliwack Progress in 1985. “Track was my thing. I did high jumps and hurdles on the girls’ team. But it was hopeless if you were taller than everybody else.”
“I was tall from minute one,” she told The View. “I was very self‑conscious and shy, and the last thing I wanted to do was stand out, and yet, every minute, I stood out.”
Being teased by classmates only made things worse.
“So, it was really tough growing up. The boys’ nickname for me in high school was Kareem Abdul‑Jabbar, which, you know, is so charming,” she recalled.
Outside of sports, she played flute in the marching band, and during her senior year, she studied abroad in Sweden, becoming fluent in the language.
She attended New England College in New Hampshire before transferring to Boston University to major in drama. Her parents supported her decision without hesitation.
“I think they knew so little about it, and it would be incredibly rare and freaky if I was able to have a successful career,” she told The Gentle Woman.
One surprising detail: she never told her parents she didn’t graduate college, even though Wikipedia listed it for years.
“They never knew the truth before they passed away,” she said.
Model for Victoria’s Secret
In 1977, she moved to New York City, working as a window mannequin, sales clerk, and waitress while beginning her modeling career. Her persistence paid off when she signed with the Zoli Agency and appeared in the iconic Victoria’s Secret catalog — a moment that ultimately opened the door to Hollywood.
“I knew I wanted to be in movies, as opposed to theater,” she told NPR.
“I decided that I would try becoming a model first because, at that time, Christie Brinkley and Lauren Hutton were being offered parts in movies. And I thought, OK, well, I’ll just become a model, and then they’ll just offer me parts because obviously, it’s so much easier to become a supermodel.
It ultimately all worked out for me, but the likelihood of becoming a famous model was actually pretty slim, and I didn’t. I did get work, and it was through my model agency that I got my first acting job.”
Her big break came when legendary director Sydney Pollack spotted her in the catalog and cast her in the 1982 film Tootsie, launching a career that would define an era of Hollywood. After sharing the screen with Dustin Hoffman, she earned glowing reviews. Soon after, she moved to Los Angeles, where her career truly began to take off.
This was when the public started recognizing her name — and filmmakers wanted her in their projects.
Her name? Geena Davis.
In 1983, she starred in the acclaimed TV series Buffalo Bill, followed by her own show, Sara, in 1985. When it was canceled, she shifted her focus to film. She appeared in Transylvania 6‑5000 in 1985 alongside Jeff Goldblum, though it didn’t perform well.
Thelma & Louise
A year later, she reunited with Goldblum for the now‑iconic 1986 horror film The Fly, marking a major turning point in her career.
Her rise continued with a standout role in Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice in 1988. The following year, she starred in The Accidental Tourist, which earned four Oscar nominations. Her performance won her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
But her most iconic role remains Thelma & Louise. The groundbreaking feminist film, directed by Ridley Scott, also sparked a powerful friendship with co‑star Susan Sarandon — one that helped Davis find her own voice.
Davis remembers Sarandon as someone who “very simply and clearly said what she thought.” After Thelma & Louise, she starred in A League of Their Own, solidifying her place in women‑centered cinema.
She said the response to those films was so “surprising and significant” that it highlighted how rare it was to see movies made by women, for women.
At the height of her fame, she was celebrated not only for her beauty but for the intelligence and depth she brought to every role.
“People always ask, ‘Do you think you’re beautiful?’ What am I going to say?” she told Vogue in 1992. “But when I see myself in a movie, I sometimes think, Oh, that’s really nice. I look good.”
She loved the glamour of Hollywood events. Shortly after Thelma & Louise, she made a memorable Oscars appearance in a dramatic Bo‑Peep–inspired gown with a long train.
“I’m just from this small town, and I’m actually going to the Oscars. Of course I want to wear something glamorous,” she said, noting how different that world was from her simple upbringing. She added that her mother’s only makeup was red lipstick.
But as she approached 40, a familiar Hollywood story unfolded.
“I fell off the cliff,” she told The Guardian in 2020.
“The great roles were incredibly scarce. It was a big difference.”
Married four times
Even as Hollywood offered fewer roles, her influence never faded. And when her career slowed, other parts of her life became far more important.
Davis, who has been married four times — including to The Fly co‑star Jeff Goldblum — became a mother for the first time at 46. Now 69, she is the mother of three: daughter Alizeh, 23, and fraternal twin sons, Kaiis and Kian, 19.
With her fourth husband, plastic surgeon Reza Jarrahy, she finally realized her dream of motherhood. They met at a party and became friends, though Davis hesitated to pursue a relationship with the then‑27‑year‑old, 15 years younger. She admitted:
“At first, to be honest, I was just approaching it like something that would be fun. I wasn’t thinking too far ahead of the game.”
As they spent more time together, Davis fell in love with Jarrahy, who would become her fourth husband and the father of her children. They married in 2001 and welcomed their first child, Alizeh, in 2002.
Mom in mid‑forties
Welcoming a child in her mid‑forties came with challenges, and Davis has never shared details about her pregnancy or whether she used IVF, as many older celebrity mothers do.
In 2004, she gave birth to twin boys, Kaiis and Kian, and admitted her biggest concern was managing three children under the age of three.
She also revealed another fear: that she couldn’t possibly love anyone as much as she loved her daughter — until she met her sons.
Unlike many celebrities who introduce their children to acting early, Davis is not encouraging any of her three to pursue show business.
She is especially protective of her daughter, emphasizing that she doesn’t want her exposed to an industry where women are often exploited and objectified.
Still, Alizeh may follow in her mother’s footsteps. Her LinkedIn profile shows she is currently studying at the University of Southern California, working toward a bachelor’s degree in music industry and cinematic arts.
As her children grew, they inspired Davis to take action in Hollywood. After noticing gender inequality in movies and TV when her kids were toddlers, she decided to confront the issue and founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media in 2004. Today, Davis remains a leading advocate for gender equality in Hollywood, noting that 96% of films are directed by men.
The Thelma & Louise star stresses that this imbalance isn’t due to a lack of talented women, but rather a male‑dominated system.
Geena Davis today
Now, at 69, Davis remains active in her acting career.
She is set to appear in the Duffer Brothers’ upcoming Netflix supernatural mystery The Boroughs. According to Deadline, the show “is set in a seemingly picturesque retirement community where a group of unlikely heroes must band together to stop an otherworldly threat from stealing the one thing they don’t have… time.”
