The Notebook star Gena Rowlands dies at 94

Actress Gena Rowlands, who starred in groundbreaking movies by her director husband John Cassavetes, has died at the age of 94.

Her death was confirmed by representatives for her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, who directed her in The Notebook.

He revealed earlier this year that his mother had Alzheimer’s disease.

Operating outside the studio system, the husband-and-wife team of John Cassavetes and Rowlands created portraits of working-class strivers and small-timers in such films as A Woman Under the Influence, Gloria and Faces.

Gena Rowlands and actor Beau Bridges hold up their Emmys in 1992 (Douglas C Pizac/AP) PA Media

Rowlands made ten films across four decades with her husband, including Minnie and Moskowitz in 1971, Opening Night in 1977 and Love Streams in 1984.

She earned Oscar nominations for two of them – 1974’s A Woman Under the Influence, in which she played a wife and mother cracking under the burden of domestic harmony, and Gloria in 1980, about a woman who helps a young boy escape the mob.

“He had a particular sympathetic interest in women and their problems in society, how they were treated and how they solved and overcame what they needed to, so all his movies have some interesting women, and you don’t need many,” she said in 2015.

Gena Rowlands in 1957 (Dick Strobel/AP) PA Media

Rowlands earned three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy and two Golden Globes. She was awarded an honorary Academy Award in 2015 in recognition of her work and legacy in Hollywood.

“You know what’s wonderful about being an actress? You don’t just live one life,” she said at the podium. “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 ravaged, looking back on a romance for the ages.

Her younger self was portrayed by Rachel McAdams.

Gena Rowlands waves to the crowd as she arrives at the Festival Palace in Cannes Tuesday, May 23, 1995 (Laurent Rebours/AP) PA Media

She also appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ Unhook the Stars in 1996.

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

She and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts when both their careers were beginning. They married four months later.

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.

Her big break came when Josh Logan cast her opposite Edward G Robinson in Paddy Chayefsky’s play Middle of the Night. Her role as a young woman in love with her much older boss brought reviews hailing her as a new star.

MGM offered her a contract for two pictures a year. Her first film, a comedy directed by and co-starring Jose Ferrer called The High Cost of Loving, brought Rowlands comparisons to one of the great 1930s stars, Carole Lombard.

But she asked to be released from her contract because she was expecting a baby. Often during her career, she would be absent from the screen for long stretches to attend to family matters.

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

John Cassavetes died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1989, and Rowlands returned to acting to assuage her grief. Between assignments, she sometimes attended film festivals and societies for Cassavetes screenings.

“I want everyone to see his films,” she said at the San Sebastian Festival in 1992. “John was one of a kind, the most totally fearless person I’ve ever known. He had a very specific view of life and the individuality of people.”