Gena Rowlands, actress who starred in films by her husband, director John Cassavetes, dies

Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actresses in the history of cinema, who starred in groundbreaking films by her husband, director John Cassavetes, and later captivated audiences in her son's tear-jerking film, “The Notebook,” has died. She was 94.

Rowlands' death was confirmed Wednesday by a representative for her son, film director Nick Cassavetes, who revealed earlier this year that his 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 made unforgettable portraits of working-class strivers and ordinary people in films like “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “Faces.”

Rowlands made 10 films with Cassavetes over a four-decade span, including 1971's “Minnie and Moskovitz,” 1977's “Opening Night” and 1984's “Love Streams.”

She was twice nominated for an Oscar, for her role as a wife and mother struggling under the strain of domestic harmony in 1974's “A Woman Under the Influence” and for her role in 1980's “Gloria,” in which she plays a woman who helps a young boy escape from the Mafia.

“He had a particularly empathetic interest in women and women's issues in society, how they were treated and how they solved and overcame problems, so all his films had interesting women in them, and he didn't need many,” she told The Associated Press in 2015.

In addition to her Oscar nominations, Rowlands has won three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. She was awarded an Honorary Academy Award in 2015 for her work and achievements in Hollywood. “The great thing about being an actress is that you don't just live one life, you live many lives,” she said at the podium.

Rowlands was introduced to a new generation in her son's smash hit The Notebook, in which she played a woman whose memory is destroyed and who looks back on an enduring romance, played as a young Rowlands by Rachel McAdams (who also appeared in Nick Cassavetes' 1996 film Unhook the Stars).

Rowlands appeared in a number of film and TV productions in her later years, including “Skeleton Key” and the detective drama “Monk.” Her last film role was in 2014's “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” in which she played a retired woman who becomes close to her gay dance instructor.

One of the successes of her career was Influence (1974), in which she played a lower-middle-class housewife who, she said, was “totally vulnerable and giving and had no idea of ​​her own worth,” and Gloria (1980), in which she played a faded showgirl threatened by her ex-boyfriend, a mob boss. She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for both performances.

She and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts when they were both just starting their careers, and they married four months later. In 1959, Cassavetes used his earnings from the TV series Johnny Staccato to make his first film, Shadows. Shot on location in New York with natural light on a budget of $40,000, the partially improvised film was praised by critics for its stark realism.

Gina (pronounced J-na) Rowlands has become an accomplished actor through her work on live TV dramas, in productions of “The Seven Year Itch” and “A Time for Ginger,” as well as off-Broadway tours.

Her big break came when director Josh Logan cast her opposite Edward G. Robinson in Paddy Chayefsky's play “Mid of the Night,” in which she played a young woman who falls in love with her older boss and was hailed as a new star.

MGM offered her a contract to appear in two films a year. Her first was the comedy The Price of Love, directed by and co-starring José Ferrer, which earned Rowlands comparisons with one of the great stars of the 1930s, Carole Lombard.

However, she asked to be released from her contract due to her pregnancy, and throughout her career she was often absent from the screen for long periods for family reasons.

In addition to Nick, she and Cassavetes had two daughters, Alexandra and Zoe, who also pursued acting careers.

After John Cassavetes died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1989, Rowlands returned to acting to cope with her grief. In between work, she occasionally attended film festivals and screenings of Cassavetes' films.

“I want people to see his films,” she said at the San Sebastián Film Festival in 1992. “John was one of a kind, the most fearless person I've ever known. He had a very unique outlook on life and human personality.”

Virginia Kathryn Rowlands was born in Cambria, Wisconsin in 1930 (some sources give a later date). Her Welsh ancestors settled here in the early 19th century. Her father was a banker and state senator. She was an introverted child who loved books and daydreaming. Her mother supported her dream of becoming an actor.

Rowlands dropped out of the University of Wisconsin in her junior year to pursue an acting career in New York City. Like many actors of her generation, she gained valuable experience in the thriving television drama scene of the 1950s, appearing in every major series.

After finishing her contract with MGM, she had her pick of film roles, and when none piqued her interest, she appeared in TV series such as “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” “Bonanza,” “Dr. Kildare,” and “The Virginian.” One of the joys of her career was starring alongside her icon, Bette Davis, in the 1979 TV movie “The Strangers.”

Her other film appearances include Lonely Man with Kirk Douglas, Rock Hudson's Spiral Road, The Children of Old with Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland, Charlton Heston's Two Minutes Warning, her film debut with Cassavetes and Molly Ringwald in The Tempest, and Paul Schrader's 1987 story about a blue-collar family, Light of Day, in which she played a mother who wants to do right by her kids.

Rowlands continued to take on demanding roles into middle age, including Woody Allen's solemn drama “Another Woman,” in which she played a writer who lives a life of emotional isolation until a tragic event forces her to confront her own feelings, and the groundbreaking TV movie “Early Frost,” in which she played a mother dealing with her son's AIDS.

Rowlands commented in 1992 that her role was memorable.

“Sometimes, like during the White Nights, when I can't sleep and I have a lot of time to think about things, I look at different possibilities for the different characters and what they're up to,” she said.

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This story has been updated to correct the spelling of the TV series “Johnny Staccato” and the release year of “Shadows.”

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Film reporter Jake Coyle in New York contributed to this report. The late Associated Press reporter Bob Thomas contributed biographical material to this report.