- - Happy 70th Birthday, Geena Davis! See the Oscar-Winning Actress' Life and Career in Photos

Brendan LeJanuary 21, 2026 at 5:30 AM

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Geena Davis in 2025

Geena Davis hit the ground running in Hollywood.

The actress made her film debut in Dustin Hoffman's hit 1982 romantic comedy Tootsie and quickly amassed a catalog of cult classics like 1986's The Fly and 1991's Thelma & Louise. For her performance in 1988's The Accidental Tourist, she won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and she later brought her talents to television, taking home the Golden Globe for the political drama Commander in Chief in 2006.

Off-screen, Davis is a proud mom of three kids, whom she shares with ex-husband Reza Jarrahy. She has also been one-half of a few A-list relationships, including a four-year marriage to Jeff Goldblum from 1987 to 1991.

As the Beetlejuice star celebrates her 70th birthday on Jan. 21, 2026, look back at her life and iconic career in photos.

01 of 10

Geena Davis' Childhood

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Geena Davis in 1984

Virginia Elizabeth Davis was born on Jan. 21, 1956, in Wareham, Mass., to teacher's assistant Lucille and engineer William F. Davis. In her 2022 memoir Dying of Politeness, she revealed that she attended Boston University to study acting but did not graduate due to insufficient credits.

"I loved BU. All of my lifelong friends are from BU. We’re still very close," she told Boston University in a 2022 Q&A. "I learned a lot. The only thing I didn’t learn was that if you want to be in movies, you should go to LA." (She signed to New York's Zoli modeling agency post-college.)

02 of 10

Geena Davis in 'The Fly'

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John Getz and Geena Davis in 'The Fly'

After landing her first role in Sydney Pollack's Tootsie opposite Hoffman and Jessica Lange, she appeared on TV shows such as Buffalo Bill, Remington Steele and Family Ties. However, it was her performance in the sci-fi thriller The Fly as the love interest of her future husband Goldblum that launched her into movie stardom.

Reflecting on her "fabulous experience" filming the box-office hit, Davis recalled to Collider, “I got cast because Jeff Goldblum was already cast and we had recently become an item, and he recommended me for the female part. ... I was acting with my actual real-life partner, and so we just lived and breathed that movie ever since we got cast."

03 of 10

Geena Davis' Marriage to Jeff Goldblum

Frank Trapper/Corbis via Getty Geena Davis and Jeff Goldblum

A year after The Fly, Davis and Goldblum tied the knot and costarred again in 1988's Earth Girls Are Easy. The power couple ultimately called it quits in 1990 and finalized their divorce in 1991, but Davis holds no hard feelings.

"[Our relationship] was joyful. It really was. That was a magical chapter in my life," she told PEOPLE in 2022.

At the 2024 SAG Awards, the exes reunited to present Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

04 of 10

Geena Davis in 'Beetlejuice'

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Geena Davis and Alec Baldwin in 'Beetlejuice'

Davis added another theatrical success to her résumé with Tim Burton's 1988 horror comedy Beetlejuice. She and Alec Baldwin portrayed the ghosts of the Maitlands, who die when their car crashes into a river, and they haunt their old home, which was sold to the Deetz family (Michael Keaton, Catherine O'Hara and Winona Ryder).

Though she expressed interest in returning for the 2024 sequel, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, Davis and Baldwin ultimately did not reprise their roles.

"My theory is that ghosts don’t age. … Not that I have," she quipped to Entertainment Tonight.

05 of 10

Geena Davis Wins an Oscar

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Geena Davis in 1989

She won her first Oscar at the 1989 Academy Awards, where she was nominated for her performance as animal hospital employee Muriel Pritchett in The Accidental Tourist. In her speech, she thanked numerous people involved in the book-to-movie adaptation, including her two acting coaches — her "darling husband" Goldblum as one of them.

06 of 10

Geena Davis in 'Thelma & Louise'

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Susan Sarandon and Geena Davis in 'Thelma & Louise'

One of her most memorable roles came in 1991's Thelma & Louise, in which she starred alongside Susan Sarandon as the titular duo. Davis, as housewife Thelma Dickinson, rides off into the sunset (and off a cliff) and shares a kiss with Sarandon's Louise in a legendary cinematic shot.

For their leading performances, both women were nominated for Best Actress at the 1992 Oscars.

"Thelma and Louise end up driving off a cliff, and still viewers felt exhilarated by their story," she explained to The Hollywood Reporter in 2021. "It made me realize how few opportunities we give women to come out of a movie feeling inspired and empowered by the female characters.”

07 of 10

Geena Davis' Marriage to Renny Harlin

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Geena Davis and Renny Harlin in 1994

She wed her third husband, Finnish director Renny Harlin, in 1993. More than their civil partnership, the two collaborated as creatives on the action films Cutthroat Island and The Long Kiss Goodnight. The commercial failure of Cutthroat Island eventually led to Davis taking a two-year hiatus from acting. Davis filed for divorce from Harlin on Aug. 26, 1997, a day after her personal secretary gave birth to the director's child.

08 of 10

Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media

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Geena Davis in 2008

In 2004, Davis founded her Institute on Gender in Media, a non-profit organization "championing equitable representation in the media," according to its website. The actress says on the homepage that she was inspired to start the initiative after having kids.

"When I first saw kids’ shows and movies through my toddler daughter’s eyes, I was stunned by the lack of female characters and diversity," she writes. "Back in 2004, only 11 percent of family films had female leads."

What started as a passion project eventually evolved into her "life's mission," Davis told PEOPLE in 2020 — though she "didn't intend" for it.

09 of 10

Geena Davis' Pivot from Film to TV

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Geena Davis in 'Commander in Chief'

Into the 21st century, Davis took on less film roles and more TV work. Her transition to the small screen began with a short-lived sitcom, The Geena Davis Show, but 2005's Commander in Chief cemented her status as a television star. The leading lady, who portrayed the fictional first female president of the United States, won a Golden Globe for Best Actress — Television Series Drama.

Although Commander in Chief ended after only one season, Davis has since had a brief recurring role on Grey's Anatomy and main billing on The Exorcist season 1. She will soon star in Netflix's sci-fi series The Boroughs, out in 2026.

10 of 10

Geena Davis' 3 Kids with Ex Reza Jarrahy

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Reza Jarrahy, Alizeh Davis -Jarrahy, Kian Jarrahy, Geena Davis and Kaiis Jarrahy

Davis and surgeon Jarrahy, who split in 2018 after 17 years of marriage, welcomed three children together: daughter Alizeh, born in 2002, and twins Kaiis and Kian, born in 2004. In the 2021 finalization of their divorce, the two agreed to change the surname of the twins, who were minors at the time, from Davis-Jarrahy to just Jarrahy.

On having children in her 40s, Davis said on ITV's Loose Talk that she was "grateful" she waited to become a mother.

"I thought, ‘I’ll be more evolved the longer I wait,’ ” she said. “I didn’t have a lot of self-esteem, but I was really determined that my children would have self-esteem.”

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