Birth Name: Virginia Cathryn Rowlands
Place of Birth: Madison, Wisconsin
Date of Birth: June 19, 1930
Ethnicity: Welsh, English
Gena Rowlands is an American actress. She is the daughter of Lady Rowlands (born Mary Allen Neal), an actress, and Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, a banker and state legislator. She was married to director/actor John Cassavetes until his death. Actor/director Nick Cassavetes is her son.
Her father was of Welsh descent. Her mother had English ancestry.
Gena’s paternal grandparents were David Morris Rowlands (the son of Morris J. Rowlands and Catherine Owens) and Emma Davies (the daughter of Edwin Davies and Jane Ann Hughes). David was born in Wisconsin, to Welsh parents. Emma was born in Wisconsin, to a Welsh-born father and a New York-born mother, of Welsh descent.
Gena’s maternal grandparents were William Joel Neal (the son of Younger Neal and Martha Thomas Dyer) and Tennessee Virginia Hickey (the daughter of Charlie M. Hickey and Saphronia Froney Wright).
Source: Gena’s father on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
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