Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever grace the craft and a leading light in independent cinema as a star in her husband, director John Cassavetes’ groundbreaking films, and later captivating audiences in her son’s tearjerker, ‘ The Notebook,” has died. She was 94.
Rowlands’ death was confirmed on Wednesday by representatives of her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes. He 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 created indelible portraits of working-class people and little people in films like “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Gloria” and “Faces.”
Rowlands made ten films with Cassavetes over four decades, including ‘Minnie and Moskowitz’ in 1971, ‘Opening Night’ in 1977 and ‘Love Streams’ in 1984.
She earned two Oscar nominations for two of them: 1974’s “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a wife and mother who succumbs to the burden of domestic harmony, and 1980’s “Gloria,” about a woman who becomes a young woman. boy helps escape from the crowd.
“He had a particularly sympathetic interest in women and their problems in society, how they were treated and how they solved and overcome what they needed, so all his films featured some interesting women, and you don’t need many,” she said. the AP in 2015.
In addition to the Oscar nominations, Rowlands earned three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy and two Golden Globes. She received an honorary Academy Award in 2015 in recognition of her work and legacy in Hollywood. “You know what’s great about being an actress? You don’t just live one life,” she said on stage. “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 shattered and who revisits a centuries-old romance. Her younger self was played by Rachel McAdams. (She also appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ “Unhook the Stars” in 1996.)
In her later years, Rowlands made several appearances in films and on TV, including in ‘The Skeleton Key’ and the detective series ‘Monk’. Her last film appearance was in 2014, playing a retiree who befriends her gay dance instructor in “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.”
One of her career triumphs was 1974’s “Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a lower-middle-class housewife who, the actress said, “was totally vulnerable and giving; she had no sense of her own worth.” In “Gloria” (1980), she portrayed a faded showgirl threatened by her ex-boyfriend, a gangster boss. She was nominated for an Oscar as best actress for both performances.
She and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts when their careers were beginning. They married four months later. In 1960, Cassavetes used his earnings from the TV series “Johnny Stacatto” to finance his first film, “Shadows.” Partially improvised, shot with natural light on locations in New York on a budget of $40,000, the film was praised by critics for its stark realism.
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 led to reviews praising her as a new star.
MGM offered her a contract for two pictures a year. Her first film, a comedy directed by and starring Jose Ferrer, “The High Cost of Loving,” brought Rowlands comparisons to one of the great stars of the 1930s, Carole Lombard.
But she asked to be released from her contract because she was expecting a baby. During her career, she often stayed away from the screen for long periods of time to attend to family matters.
In addition to Nick, director (“Alpha Dog,” “My Sister’s Keeper”) and actor, she and Cassavetes had two daughters, Alexandra and Zoe, who also pursued an acting career.
John Cassavetes died of cirrhosis of the liver in 1989, and Rowlands returned to acting to ease her grief. Between assignments, she sometimes visited film festivals and associations 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 completely fearless person I have ever known. He had a very specific view of people’s lives and individuality.”
Virginia Cathryn Rowlands was born in 1930 (some sources give a later date) in Cambria, Wisconsin, where her Welsh ancestors had settled in the early 19th century. Her father was a banker and senator. She was a withdrawn child who loved books and fantasy. Her mother encouraged the girl’s ambition to become an actress.
Rowlands dropped out of the University of Wisconsin in her freshman year to pursue an acting career in New York. Like other actors of her generation, she gained valuable experience in the flourishing field of television drama in the 1950s, appearing in all the major series.
After leaving her MGM contract, she was able to choose her film roles. When nothing appealed to her, she appeared in TV series such as ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, ‘Bonanza’, ‘Dr. Kildare” and “The Virginian.” One of her career highlights was starring opposite her icon Bette Davis in the TV movie ‘Strangers’ in 1979.
Her other films include “Lonely Are the Brave” with Kirk Douglas, “The Spiral Road” (Rock Hudson), “A Child Is Waiting” (with Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland, directed by Cassavetes), “Two Minute Warning” (Charlton Heston), ‘Tempest’ (with Cassavetes and Molly Ringwald in her film debut) and the mother who wants to do right by her children in Paul Schrader’s 1987 study of a working-class family ‘Light of Day’.
In middle age and beyond, Rowlands continued to play demanding roles. In Woody Allen’s austere drama, “Another Woman,” she was cast as a writer whose life is shielded from emotions until serious incidents force her to deal with her feelings. In the groundbreaking TV movie ‘An Early Frost’ she appeared as a mother confronted with her son’s AIDS.
Rowlands noted in 1992 that her roles were remembered.
“Sometimes, during those white nights when I have no sleep and a lot of time to think about everything, I explore the different possibilities of different characters and what they could do next,” she said.
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New York film writer Jake Coyle contributed to this report. The late Associated Press writer Bob Thomas contributed biographical material to this report.
