‘The Notebook’ actor Gena Rowlands has died, aged 94

15 August, 2024

Gena Rowlands attends the 88th Annual Academy Awards in 2016

Veteran American actor Gena Rowlands has died – she was 94 years of age.

Rowlands’s death was confirmed by the office of her son Nick Cassavettes’ agents in a statement to Variety. A cause of death was not shared, but it is known that Rowlands had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Her Alzheimer’s diagnosis was revealed by Nick Cassavettes, who directed The Notebook, in June this year.

Rowlands also starred in The Notebook, as the elder version of Allie Hamilton. In the film, the younger version of Allie was portrayed by Rachel McAdams, and the elder version was struggling with dementia.

Rowlands was perhaps best known for her role in The Notebook, as well as her highly impactful role as Mabel Longhetti in John Cassavettes’ 1974 drama film A Woman Under The Influence.

Over the course of her illustrious career that has spanned 65 years, Rowlands has received four Emmy Awards, two Golden Globes, and two National Board of Review Awards, as well as two Academy Award nominations. In 2015, she was presented with an honorary Academy Award, and was recognised as an “original talent whose devotion to her craft has earned her worldwide recognition as an independent film icon.”

Gena Rowlands in 'Gloria'
Gena Rowlands in ‘Gloria’. Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images

The actor’s breakout came in 1962 when she starred opposite Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau in the feature film Lonely Are the Brave. The next year, she starred in A Child Is Waiting, helmed by her husband, actor and director John Cassavetes. It would go on to mark the first of 10 films that they would make together.

Rowlands made her film debut in 1958 in the light romantic comedy The High Cost of Loving. Her final feature credits came in two 2014 films: Parts Per Billion and an adaptation of the play Dancing for Six Weeks.

Other prominent roles in Rowlands’ career come from films like Gloria, Tempest, The Neon Bible, She’s So Lovely, The Skeleton Key and Broken English, and TV series like Riverboat, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Numb3rs, Monk and NCIS.

See a couple of tributes to the late Gena Rowlands below.

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