Gena Rowlands, the renowned actress who helped pioneer independent filmmaking alongside her husband John Cassavetes, has died at the age of 94 . The retired actress died Wednesday afternoon surrounded by her family at her home in Indian Wells, Calif., an agent for her son, director Nick Cassavetes, confirmed to Variety.
A cause of death was not given , though Rowlands had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the last five years. Her son shared her diagnosis in June, acknowledging the cruel irony of his mother being “in full dementia,” much like her beloved character of older Allie in 2004’s “The Notebook,” which he directed. “I got my mom to play older Allie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s ,” Cassavetes told Entertainment Weekly, noting his grandmother, actress Lady Rowlands, also had the disease.
“It’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.” Prior to the roles she became known for among younger audiences, much of Rowlands’ most celebrated work came from collaborations on 10 films with her husband John Cassavetes, two of which — 1974’s “A Woman Under the Influence” and 1980’s “Gloria” — earned her much-deserved Academy Award nominations . While her movie star looks may have gotten her through the door in her early Hollywood days, Rowlands’ unmatched ability to play multidimensional women secu.