, the wife and muse of John whose unvarnished abilities found in such films as , , and put her in the pantheon of acting legends, died Wednesday. She was 94. died surrounded by family members at her home in Indian Wells, California, according to .
A spokesperson for WME, where her son, writer-director Nick , has representation, confirmed her death. She had . received Oscar nominations for her performances in (1974), where she played an isolated, emotionally vulnerable housewife who lapses into madness, and (1980), where she sparkled as a pissed-off child protector who rails against the Mob.
She lost out to Ellen of and Sissy of in those Academy Award races. Her greatness wasn’t formally acknowledged by the Academy until she received an honorary Oscar at the 2015 Governors Awards. “You know what’s wonderful about being an actress?” said at the ceremony.
“You don’t just live one life — yours — you live many lives.” John directed his wife in and as well as in (1959), (1963), (1968), (1971), (1977) and (1984). He wrote all but one of those dramas as well, and together, the couple kick-started the independent film movement in America.
Her husband “loved actors, and he had a particular interest in women. Women in movies, I should say!” ‘s Scott Feinberg in 2015. “He was interested in women’s problems and where they are in society and what they have to overcome.
He offered me some really wonderful parts.” Rowlands starred for Nick as a lonely widow in (.