Gena Rowlands, star of ‘The Notebook’ and ‘A Woman Under the Influence,’ dead at 94
By Alli Rosenbloom, CNN
(CNN) — Oscar-nominated actress Gena Rowlands, whose screen career spanned nearly seven decades, has died at 94.
The news was confirmed by the office of agent Danny Greenberg, who represents Rowlands’ son, Nick Cassavetes. No other details were provided.
Rowlands was known for both her work in early independent cinema alongside her first husband, director John Cassavetes, as well as crowd-pleasing titles later in her career, including “Hope Floats” in 1998 opposite Sandra Bullock and the hit film “The Notebook” in 2004.
She was nominated for two Academy Awards, for 1974’s “A Woman Under the Influence and 1980’s “Gloria” — both directed by John Cassavetes.
The actress was also awarded an honorary Oscar in 2015, alongside director Spike Lee, as a recognition of “extraordinary lifetime achievement” in cinema, according to the Academy website.
Rowlands had been living with Alzheimer’s for the last five years, Nick Cassavetes revealed in a June conversation with Entertainment Weekly. The son reflected on his mother’s portrayal of an aging Allie Calhoun in “The Notebook” as the character struggled with Alzheimer’s.
“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,” Cassavetes told the publication. “She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
This is a developing story and will be updated.
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