Gena Rowlands, a legend of the silver screen whose career spanned nearly seven decades, died Aug. 14 at her home in Indian Wells, California, at the age of 94.
Her death was confirmed by representatives for her son, director Nick Cassavetes, who in June shared with the world that his mother had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Rowlands began her career in the early 1950s, playing roles in theater and numerous television series, including the prime-time soap opera “Peyton Place” and the Western series “Riverboat” and “Bonanza.”
She then moved on to the big screen, making a host of movies with her husband, director John Cassavetes, a big proponent of cinéma vérité, an observational style of film-making.
Together, they became big names in the independent film scene.
Rowlands’s big breakthrough to fame came with her milestone portrayal of an emotionally unstable woman in the 1974 masterpiece “A Woman Under the Influence,” a role that won her a Golden Globe and an Oscar nomination for best actress.
In 1980, she nabbed another nomination for the crime thriller “Gloria,” also directed by Cassavetes, proving that these two were the real deal when it came to cinematic chemistry.
She won another Golden Globe for Best Actress in 1987 for the television film “The Betty Ford Story” and three Emmy awards during her entire television career.
After the death of her husband and long-term working partner in 1989, she continued to work, passing on the directing torch to her children.
She played roles in son Nick’s 1996 directorial debut, “Unhook the Stars,” his 2004 hit film “The Notebook,” a romantic drama and probably her most well-known role, and daughter Zoe’s 2007 romantic comedy-drama “Broken English.”
In 2014, the then 85-year-old actress received an honorary Oscar, alongside director Spike Lee, as a recognition of “extraordinary lifetime achievement” in cinema.
“I didn’t think I’d live this long, let alone work this much,” Rowlands said to Variety at the time before bursting into laughter.
However, she would not go on to do additional work, confirming in 2015 to The Hollywood Reporter that she had officially retired.
Rowlands’s final screen appearances were in 2013 and 2014: the sci-fi comedy “Parts Per Billion,” with Frank Langella and “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks,” an adaptation of the eponymous play Wimin, in which she starred alongside Joshua Jackson, respectively.
Rowlands is survived by her children, Nick, Zoe, and Alexandra, several grandchildren, and her second husband, Robert Forrest, whom she married in 2012.