Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director-husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son's tear-jerker “The Notebook,” has died. She was 94. Rowlands' death was confirmed Wednesday by representatives for her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes.
He revealed earlier this year that his mother had Alzheimer’s disease. TMZ reported that Rowlands died Wednesday at her home in Indian Wells, California. FILE - Actor Gena Rowlands poses for a portrait at the London West Hollywood hotel in West Hollywood, Calif.
, on Dec. 4, 2014. Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and later charmed audiences in her son's tear-jerker “The Notebook,” has died at age 94.
Operating outside the studio system, the husband-and-wife team of John Cassavetes and Rowlands created indelible portraits of working-class strivers and small-timers in such films as “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “Faces.” Rowlands made 10 films across four decades with Cassavetes, including “Minnie and Moskowitz” in 1971, “Opening Night” in 1977 and “Love Streams” in 1984. She earned two Oscar nods: 1974's “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a wife and mother cracking under.