Gena Rowlands, Oscar-nominated ‘Gloria’ and ‘The Notebook’ actress, dies at 94

Gena Rowlands, the award-winning actress known for her acclaimed roles in A Woman Under the Influence, Gloria and The Notebook, has died. She was 94.

Rowlands’ son, film director Nick Cassavetes, revealed in June 2024 that his mother had been living with Alzheimer’s disease for five years.

Her death was confirmed by The Associated Press.

A four-time Emmy winner and two-time GoldenGlobe winner, as well as the recipient of an Honorary Academy Award, Rowlands’ career in theater, film and television spanned nearly seven decades. She was perhaps best known for her film collaborations with her husband, the late actor and director John Cassavetes, and received two Oscar nominations for her starring roles in his films A Woman Under the Influence and Gloria.

Born Virginia Cathryn Rowlands in Cambria, Wisconsin, she made her Broadway debut in The Seven Year Itch in 1953.  Rowlands met John Cassavetes when they were both students at the American Academy for Dramatic Arts and they were married in 1954. She spent the next six years working in TV, including opposite Cassavetes in the detective series Johnny Staccato, in which he starred.  She also appeared in hit series like Bonanza, The Virginian, 77 Sunset Strip and Peyton Place.

Rowlands made her film debut in 1958 in The High Cost of Living.  In 1963, she starred in her first movie directed by John Cassavetes: A Child Is Waiting. The couple would make nine more films over the next 10 years, including the Oscar-nominated 1968 drama Faces.

One of Rowlands’ most acclaimed roles was in the 1974 drama A Woman Under the Influence, which Cassavetes both wrote and directed as a showcase for her. The film, about the mental and emotional unraveling of a middle-aged, blue-collar housewife, earned Rowlands a best actress Golden Globe win and Academy Award nomination.

She received a second best actress Oscar nod for her 1980 title role in the crime thriller Gloria, also written and directed by Cassavetes, playing a woman who protects the young son of a mob bookkeeper by going on the run with him and an incriminating ledger of mob accounts.

Rowlands continued to work steadily in TV and movies, but arguably, her best-known, and most beloved, later big-screen role was in the 2004 romantic drama The Notebook, directed by Nick Cassavetes. Rowlands portrayed the elderly version of Rachel McAdams‘ character, opposite James Garner as her husband, who was played as a younger man by Ryan Gosling.

Nick Cassavetes directed his mother in three other films – Unhook the Stars, She’s So Lovely and Yellow – while Rowlands’ daughter, Zoe, directed her in 2007’s Broken English.

Later in her career, Rowlands appeared on hit TV shows including Monk and NCIS. Her last credited acting role was in 2014’s Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.

In addition to Nick and Zoe, Rowlands is survived by her and Cassavetes’ other daughter, Alexandra. Both daughters are actor/directors.

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