Geena Davis's Real Name: Virginia Elizabeth Davis

Quick answer: Geena Davis's real name is Virginia Elizabeth Davis. She was born on January 21, 1956, in Wareham, Massachusetts. Geena is the name she uses professionally. She won an Academy Award for The Accidental Tourist (1988), starred in Thelma & Louise (1991) and A League of Their Own (1992), and founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media (Britannica; Library of Congress).

Real name and early life

Britannica's quick facts give her name in full as Virginia Elizabeth Davis. The Library of Congress name authority files her as "Davis, Geena," with the variants "Davis, Virginia Elizabeth," "Davis, Virginia, 1956-," and "Emmolo, Virginia, 1956-." One LOC citation reads: "Geena Davis; birth name: Virginia Elizabeth Davis; born 21 January 1956 in Wareham, Massachusetts." The Emmolo form is a married-name variant in LOC's file.

Davis studied drama at New England College and then at Boston University's College of Fine Arts, graduating in 1979, and worked in summer stock. In New York she waitressed and became a lingerie model with the Zoli agency. She made her film debut in a small part in Tootsie (1982).

Career highlights

Davis played a research assistant on the sitcom Buffalo Bill (1983–84), had a recurring role on Family Ties, and appeared in Fletch (1985). Her breakthrough came opposite Jeff Goldblum in David Cronenberg's The Fly (1986).

In 1988 she starred in Tim Burton's Beetlejuice and in Earth Girls Are Easy. She also played the free-spirited dog trainer in The Accidental Tourist, which won her the Oscar for best supporting actress. As Thelma in Thelma & Louise she earned a best actress nomination alongside Susan Sarandon. She then played catcher Dottie Hinson in Penny Marshall's A League of Their Own.

Britannica says Cutthroat Island (1995), directed by her then-husband Renny Harlin, was a box-office failure that hurt her career. She returned as the mother in Stuart Little (1999) and its sequels. On TV she won a 2006 Golden Globe as President Mackenzie Allen in Commander in Chief, and later appeared in Grey's Anatomy and GLOW. Recent films include Marjorie Prime (2017) and Blink Twice (2024). Britannica also lists a supporting role in The Wrong Girls (2026).

In 2004 she founded the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media, which studies and challenges gender imbalance and stereotypes on screen. She also produced the 2018 documentary This Changes Everything.

Name notes for searchers

Virginia Elizabeth Davis is her birth name. Geena is the first name she uses professionally, while Davis is her real surname. Library catalogs may also show Virginia Davis or the married-name form Virginia Emmolo.