Gena Rowlands, known for her role in hit romantic drama The Notebook as well as her work with filmmaker husband John Cassavetes, died on Wednesday, August 14, at the age of 94.
Rowlands died at her home in Indian Wells, California, surrounded by family and friends at the time of her death, Deadline reported. No cause of death has been announced, but Rowlands had been battling Alzheimer’s disease. TMZ was first to report the news.
Us Weekly has reached out to Rowlands’ representatives.
Rowlands, an honorary Oscar recipient who also received two Academy Award nods, portrayed an Alzheimer’s-afflicted woman, the dementia-ridden Allie, in 2004’s The Notebook. The film was directed by her son, Nick Cassavettes. Her son revealed in June of this year that his mother — ironically — was actually suffering from the disease in real life.
“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,” he told Entertainment Weekly. “She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
Speaking to O magazine in 2004, Rowlands discussed how her own mother had happened to have battled Alzheimer’s, and how that experience had affected her approach to taking on the role in The Notebook.
“This last one — The Notebook, based on the novel by Nicholas Sparks — was particularly hard because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s,” she related to the outlet at the time. “I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it — it’s just too hard. It was a tough but wonderful movie.”
Rowlands retired from acting in 2015; her collection of accolades includes four Emmy Awards and two Golden Globes in addition to her Oscar nominations. She made 10 films with former husband Cassavetes, including 1974’s A Woman Under The Influence, for which she recieved a Best Actress Oscar nomination, and 1980’s Gloria, which gave her her second Best Actress Oscar nomination.
She also boasted Broadway credits, having made her stage debut in The Seven Year Itch. Additionally, she appeared on the small screen, costarring in TV series Top Secret, as well as guest-starring on a variety of popular TV shows.
