Legendary Actress Gena Rowlands Passes Away at 94

(ProsperNews.net) – Golden Globe recipient and legendary actress Gena Rowlands died last week at the age of 94.

On the afternoon of Wednesday, Aug. 14, Rowlands died at her residence in Indian Wells, California. Her son Nick Cassavetes, filmmaker and director, announced the news. No official cause of death has been released at this time.

Cassavetes directed the 2004 romantic drama “The Notebook,” which featured Rowlands as the older version of the character Allie, played by Rachel McAdams. While celebrating and discussing the 20th anniversary of the film, he recently revealed that his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, noting the uncanny between the character she played and the real-life circumstances she ended up in later in life.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly in June, Cassavetes said he “spent a lot of time” talking about the disease with his mother when he brought her on “to play older Allie” because they wanted to make sure it felt “authentic.” The older version of the character develops dementia, and he noted the uncanniness at the fact that “she acted it” and now has “full dementia,” something she had been living with for over five years.

Lady Rowlands, the grandmother of Cassavetes and Rowlands’ mother, also suffered from Alzheimer’s in older age. In an interview in 2004, Rowlands spoke about the difficulty in playing Allie in “The Notebook” because of what she went through with her mother. She said if her son wasn’t directing the film, she probably would not have gone through with the role, admitting the subject was “just too hard.”

Rowlands was nominated twice for Best Actress at the Academy Awards, for her roles in the films “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974) and “Gloria” (1980). Both movies were written and directed by her husband John Cassavetes, who was also an actor. “A Woman Under the Influence” also earned her a National Board of Review Award. For her role in “Opening Night” (1977), Rowlands won the Silver Bear for Best Actress.

The actress’s other nominations include eight Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy Award nomination, eight Golden Globe Award nominations, two SAG Awards, and three Satellite Awards. Of those, she won three Primetime Emmys, one Daytime Emmy, two Golden Globes, and two Satellites, among other accolades throughout her career.