The Notebook actress Gena Rowlands dies at 94
American actress Gena Rowlands, renowned for her performances in The Notebook and Another Woman, has passed away at 94. Rowlands, who earned Oscar nominations for her roles in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), died at her home in Indian Wells, California.
Though the cause of death has not been disclosed, reports suggest she had been battling Alzheimer’s disease. Rowlands retired from acting in 2015 after a prolific career, winning four Emmys, two Golden Globes, and receiving two Oscar nominations, according to Deadline.
Her Oscar-nominated roles in A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria were directed by her former husband, John Cassavetes.
Rowlands earned her Emmys for performances in The Betty Ford Story, Face of a Stranger, Hysterical Blindness, and The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie.
Born in Wisconsin, Rowlands moved to New York, where she starred in the Broadway production of The Seven Year Itch. In 1956, she appeared in the Broadway play Middle of the Night.
In 2015, she was given an honorary Academy Award for her long acting career.
“Working this long? I didn’t even think I’d be living this long,” she recently told Variety.
She also starred in films Faces, Opening Night, Unhook the Stars, Yellow and Broken English, Hope Floats, Tempest, The Brink’s Job, Tony Rome, and The Neon Bible.
The Notebook was directed in 2004 by her son Nick Cassavetes, who recently spoke to Entertainment Weekly about how his mother played a character suffering from dementia.
“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,” he said.
“She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
