Born Virginia Rowlands in Madison, WI; educated Univ. of Wisconsin; trained at AADA. Cool, tough, blonde leading lady of the American stage, TV, and films. She made Broadway in 1952 as an understudy for the lead in The Seven Year Itch and later took over the role. After playing the Broadway lead in Middle of the Night (1956-67) she went out to Hollywood, making her screen debut in 1958 (THE HIGH COST OF LOVING). She appeared in several of the films of her husband (from 1958, till his death in 1989), actor-director John Cassavetes: "Stacatto" (1959, TV series), A CHILD IS WAITING (1963), FACES (1968), MINNIE AND MOSKOWITZ (1971), A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE (1974) OPENING NIGHT (1977), TEMPEST (1982, Cassavetes acted, but Paul Mazursky wrote and directed) and LOVE STREAMS (1984). She was named best actress at the 1978 Berlin Film Festival for OPENING NIGHT and won an Emmy® for her portrayal of the First Lady in the TV movie The Betty Ford Story (1987). Other notable screen credits include TONY ROME (1967), TWO MINUTE WARNING (1976), THE BRINK'S JOB (1978), ANOTHER WOMAN (1988), SHE'S SO LOVELY (1997), HOPE FLOATS (1998) and HYSTERICAL BLINDNESS (2002). She works extensively on television, on many TV series until 1969, and now frequently in made-for-TV movies. Recent screen appearances include TAKING LIVES and THE NOTEBOOK (both 2004), THE SKELETON KEY (2005), PARIS, JE T'AIME (2006), and BROKEN ENGLISH and PERSEPOLIS (voice) (both 2007).  Nominated for Actress 1974: A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE  Nominated for Actress 1980: GLORIA 2 nominations