Gena Rowlands, the acclaimed American actress, three-time Emmy winner and dual Oscar nominee for her vivid portrayals of strong, troubled women, has died at the age of 94. Entertainment Weekly reported her death on Wednesday, citing her son, Nick Cassavetes. Rowlands starred in dozens of films during a career that began on stage and television in the 1950s and included award-winning roles in movies directed by her first husband, actor, writer and director John Cassavetes.
Know the news with the 7NEWS app: Download today Her son Nick Cassavetes revealed in June that Rowlands had Alzheimer’s, like her own mother and the character she portrayed in the 2004 film The Notebook. “She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us,” her son, who directed the film, told Entertainment Weekly.
The tall, blonde actress made 10 films with Cassavetes before his death in 1989, including the psychological drama Opening Night (1977), the marital saga Faces (1968) and 1984’s Love Streams, in which she played his sister. “There was always a manic energy to the performances she gave in her late husband’s films, a fear of failure, a desire to love,” the awards website Golden Derby said of Rowlands. In A Woman Under The Influence, which Cassavetes originally wrote as a play and which is considered among her best performances, Rowlands played Mabel Longhetti, a housewife struggling with mental illness.
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