Oscar-nominated actor Gena Rowlands has died at the age of 94

Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever grace the craft and a leading light in independent cinema as a star in her husband, director John Cassavetes’ groundbreaking films, and later captivating audiences in her son’s tearjerker, ‘ The Notebook,” has died. She was 94.

Rowlands’ death was confirmed on Wednesday by representatives of her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes. He announced this earlier this year mother had Alzheimer’s disease. TMZ reported that Rowlands died Wednesday at her home in Indian Wells, California.

Operating outside the studio system, the husband-and-wife team of John Cassavetes and Rowlands created indelible portraits of working-class people and little people in films like “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “Faces.”

Rowlands made ten films with Cassavetes over four decades, including ‘Minnie and Moskowitz’ in 1971, ‘Opening Night’ in 1977 and ‘Love Streams’ in 1984.

She earned two Oscar nominations for two of them: 1974’s “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a wife and mother who succumbs to the burden of domestic harmony, and 1980’s “Gloria,” about a woman who becomes a woman. helps young boy escape from the crowd.

“He had a particularly sympathetic interest in women and their problems in society, how they were treated and how they solved and overcome what they needed, so all his films featured some interesting women, and you don’t need many,” she said. the AP in 2015.

In addition to the Oscar nominations, Rowlands earned three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy and two Golden Globes. She received an honorary Academy Award in 2015 in recognition of her work and legacy in Hollywood. “You know what’s great about being an actress? You don’t just live one life,” she said on stage. “You live many lives.”

A new generation was introduced to Rowlands in her son’s blockbuster “The Notebook,” in which she played a woman whose memory is shattered and who revisits a centuries-old romance. Her younger self was played by Rachel McAdams. (She also appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ “Unhook the Stars” in 1996.)

In her later years, Rowlands made several appearances in films and on TV, including in ‘The Skeleton Key’ and the detective series ‘Monk’. Her last film appearance was in 2014, playing a retiree who befriends her gay dance instructor in “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.”

One of her career triumphs was 1974’s “Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a lower-middle-class housewife who, the actress said, “was totally vulnerable and giving; she had no sense of her own worth. In “Gloria” (1980), she portrayed a faded showgirl threatened by her ex-boyfriend, a gangster boss. She was nominated for an Oscar as best actress for both performances.

She and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts when their careers were beginning. They married four months later. In 1960, Cassavetes used his earnings from the TV series “Johnny Stacatto” to finance his first film, “Shadows.” Partially improvised, shot with natural light on locations in New York on a budget of $40,000, the film was praised by critics for its stark realism.

Gena (pronounced Jenna) Rowlands became a seasoned actor through live television drama and tours in “The Seven Year Itch” and “Time for Ginger,” as well as off-Broadway.

New York film writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report. The late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed biographical material to this report.