Gina Gershon
Gershon in June 2011
Born	Gina L. Gershon (1962-06-10) June 10, 1962 (age 50) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actress, singer, author
Years active	1985–present
Website
http://www.ginagershon.com/

Gina L. Gershon (born June 10, 1962) is an American film, television and stage actress, singer and author, known for her roles in the films Cocktail (1988), Showgirls (1995), Bound (1996), Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1996), Face/Off (1997), The Insider (1999), Demonlover (2002), Category 7: The End of the World (2005), P.S. I Love You (2007) and Five Minarets in New York (2010). She is currently a supporting cast member of the HBO series How To Make It In America.

Early life[link]

Gershon was born in Los Angeles, the daughter of Mickey, an interior decorator, and Stan Gershon, who worked in the import/export business and sales.^[1] Gershon is Jewish,^[2] and has a brother, Dan, and a sister, Tracy. She attended Beverly Hills High School with Lenny Kravitz.^[3] After high school, Gershon moved to Boston, where she attended Emerson College.

Career[link]

Gershon attended New York University, where she studied drama and child psychology. She also attended the Circle in the Square Professional Theater School in New York, working with David Mamet and Harold Guskin. She is one of the founding members of the New York-based theater group Naked Angels.^[4]

She has appeared on Broadway three times, as Sally Bowles in the revival of Cabaret, in the revival of the sex farce Boeing-Boeing, and is currently playing Rosie Alvarez in the Broadway revival of Bye Bye Birdie at the Roundabout Theatre Company.^[5]

Her first acting venues were stage appearances in Camille and The Substance of Fire. She had a cameo role in The Cars 1984 video Hello Again alongside Andy Warhol. Her break came with a bit part in 1986's Pretty in Pink which led to more substantial roles in Sweet Revenge with Nancy Allen and Cocktail, with Tom Cruise and Elisabeth Shue. Gershon also worked in TV, with a recurring role on Melrose Place playing a Heidi Fleiss-esque Hollywood madame. She won critical acclaim for her portrayal of Nancy Sinatra in the made-for-TV biopic Sinatra. 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. The following year, she costarred with John Travolta and Nicolas Cage in Face/Off.^[4]

Gershon is regarded as a gay icon^[6] because of her roles in movies such as Bound (in which she played a butch lesbian), Prey for Rock & Roll, and Showgirls (in which she played a bisexual, and which is regarded as a camp classic). She was ranked #23 on the Maxim Hot 100 Women of 2004.^[7]

Gershon played Jew's harp on "I Can't Decide", a song on the Scissor Sisters 2006 release Ta-Dah. She also played Jew's harp on the song "I Do It For Your Love", Paul Simon's collaboration with Herbie Hancock on his album Possibilities, and on "Maria" from her album In Search Of Cleo. On television, she has recurring roles on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm (as a Hasidic dry cleaner), Rescue Me, and the U.S. dramedy series Ugly Betty (as Italian cosmetics mogul Fabia, the rival of Wilhelmina Slater). She also has served as the voiceover for Major League Baseball's "I Live For This" promotional campaign.

Gershon also appears in Lenny Kravitz's music video entitled "Again". She and her brother Dan are the authors of the children's book Camp Creepy Time. On September 10, 2008, Gershon appeared in a video on funnyordie.com, parodying former Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, titled "Gina Gershon Strips Down Sarah Palin"^[8] which she followed with "Gina Gershon Does Sarah Palin 2".^[9]

In 2011 she appeared as a recurring character in the HBO series How to Make It in America.

Personal life[link]

A 2008 Vanity Fair article linked her romantically with former President Bill Clinton.^[10] Speaking on the U.S. television show Live with Regis and Kelly on June 9, she said, "It is such a crazy, outrageous lie… I met him three times at events. [These rumors] disturbed me on so many levels."

Filmography[link]

Films[link]

Gershon in May 2010

• Pretty in Pink (1986) – gym student/friend at prom
• Sweet Revenge (1987) – K.C.
• Red Heat (1988) – Cat Manzetti
• Cocktail (1988) – Coral
• Voodoo Dawn (1990) – Tina
• Out for Justice (1991) – Patti Madano
• The Player (1992) – Whitney Gersh
• Ann Rule's Eveything She Ever Wanted (1993) – Pat Allanson
• Flinch (1994) – Daphne James
• Best of the Best 3: No Turning Back (1995) – Margo Preston
• Showgirls (1995) – Cristal Connors
• Bound (1996) – Corky
• Touch (1997) – Debra Lusanne
• Face/Off (1997) – Sasha Hassler
• This World, Then the Fireworks (1997) – Carol Lakewood Wharton
• Palmetto (1998) – Nina
• Prague Duet (1998) – Dr. Lauren Graham
• One Tough Cop (1998) – Joey O'Hara
• Black & White (1998) – Nora "Hugs" Hugosian
• Lulu on the Bridge (1998) – Hannah
• Guinevere (1999) – Billie
• The Insider (1999) – Helen Caperelli
• Slackers (2002)-Uncredited
• Driven (2001) – Cathy Heguy
• Picture Claire (2001) – Lily Warden
• Borderline (2002) – Lila Coletti
• Demonlover (2002) – Elaine Si Gibril
• Prey for Rock & Roll (2003) – Jacki
• Three Way (2004) – Florence
• Out of Season (2004) – Eileen Phillips
• Category 7: The End of the World (2005) – Judith Carr
• Dreamland (2006) – Mary
• One Last Thing... (2006) – Arlene
• Kettle of Fish (2006) – Ginger
• What Love Is (2006) – Rachel
• Delirious (2007) – Dana
• P.S. I Love You (2007) – Sharon
• Beer for My Horses (2008) – Cammie
• Just Business (2008) – Marty
• Love Ranch (2009) – Irene
• Five Minarets in New York (Turkish: New York’ta Beş Minare) (2010) – Maria
• Killer Joe (2011) – Sharla

Television[link]

• The New Twilight Zone (1987) – Laura/Prince (Season 2, Episode 18 "Time and Teresa Golowitz")
• The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd (1989) – Randy
• Monsters (1989)-Ann(Season 2, Episode 7 "jar")
• Sinatra (1992) – Nancy Barbato Sinatra
• Melrose Place (1993) – Ellen
• Love Matters (1993)-Heat
• Legalese (1998) – Angela
• Snoops (1999) – Glenn Hall
• The Job (2001?) – Herself
• Just Shoot Me! (2002–03) – Rhonda Ferrara (two episodes)
• Spider-Man: The New Animated Series (2003) – Shikata (voice)
• Crossing Jordan(2004) – Charlie Davis (Season 4, Episode 19)
• Tripping the Rift (2004) – Six (voice, replaced by Carmen Electra in Season 2)
• The Practice (2004) – Glenn Hall
• Curb Your Enthusiasm (2004 & 2007) – Anna
• The Batman (2004–08) – Catwoman (voice)
• Ugly Betty (2006–2007) – Fabia (Season 1, Episode 1, 14, 23)
• Psych (2007) – Emilina Saffron (episode "American Duos")
• Rescue Me (2007) – Valerie (episodes "Solo", "Animal", "High", "Cycle", "Keefe", and "Yaz")
• Numb3rs^[11]
• Eastbound & Down (2009) – (Season 1, Episode 5 "Chapter 5")
• Everything She Ever Wanted (2009) – Lifetime Movie Network miniseries
• Life on Mars (2009)
• How to Make It in America (2011)

Broadway[link]

• Cabaret (1998 revival) – Sally Bowles
• Boeing Boeing (2008 revival) – Gabriella
• Bye Bye Birdie (2009 revival) – Rose Alvarez

Music[link]

• In Search of Cleo (2007)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Gina Gershon

• Official website (features detailed filmography, biography, news)
• Gina Gershon at the Internet Movie Database
• Gina Gershon at the Notable Names Database
• Q&A from Entertainment Weekly (June 19, 2007)