Gena Rowlands, Gutsy Star of 'Woman Under the Influence,' 'Gloria' & 'The Notebook,' Dies at 94

Gena Rowlands, the film icon who with her late husband John Cassavetes appeared in some of the most acclaimed films of the 20th century — and who found her greatest fame in "The Notebook" — died August 14 at 94.

TMZ reported her death. She died at her Indian Wells, California, home, surrounded by family that included her husband of 12 years Robert and her daughter Alexandra Cassavetes.

Her son, actor and director Nick Cassavetes, had also reportedly been close to home this week.

In a cruel twist of fate, her family had recently announced she was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which also afflicted her "The Notebook" character, Allie. Her son Nick, who directed her in the box-office hit, confirmed in June that she had been in "full dementia" for five years at that time.

She had retired from acting in 2015, the same year she received an honorary Oscar, but made occasional appearances while she was still well.

Her career was marked by earthy, realistic portrayals, often in films directed by her first husband. She worked with him in "Shadows" (1959), "A Child Is Waiting" (1963), "Faces" (1968), "Minnie and Moskowitz" (1971), "A Woman Under the Influence" (1974), "Opening Night" (1977), "Gloria" (1980), and "Love Streams" (1984), together spurring an independent film movement in the U.S.

She was Oscar-nominated for "A Woman Under the Influence," for which she received a Golden Globe, and "Gloria," the latter of which was remade unsuccessfully by director Sidney Lumet in 1999 with Sharon Stone in the lead.

After her husband died of cirrhosis of the liver at 59 in 1989, she went on to work with her son Nick, appearing in "Unhook the Stars" (1996), "She's So Lovely" (1997), and "Yellow" (2012), but it was her work in his "The Notebook" (2004) that captivated audiences.

The romantic drama, based on the Nicholas Sparks novel of the same title, made stars of Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams as a young couple in love in the '40s whose story is being read in the present by an elderly man in a care facility (James Garner) to a fellow resident (Rowlands). In the end, Garner and Rowlands' characters are revealed to be Gosling and McAdams' characters, and they die together after a long, loving life.

Born June 19, 1930, in Cambria, Wisconsin, Rowlands was the daughter of stage actress Lady Rowlands and state legislator Edwin Rowlands. She lived in D.C. and Minneapolis, later attending college at the University of Wisconsin before pursuing acting in NYC after a stint at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

She toured with the company of "The Seven Year Itch" in the early '50s and starred in "Middle of the Night" on Broadway in 1956.

On TV, she was a regular on "Top Secret" (1954-1956) and was a fixture on hour-long dramatic series. Other early TV work included appearances on "Laramie" (1959), "Riverboat" (1959), "Alfred Hitchock Presents" (1960), "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962-1964), "77 Sunset Strip" (1962), and 39 episodes of "Peyton Place" (1967) as conniving socialite Adrienne Van Leyden.

She starred with Bette Davis in the TV movie "Strangers — The Story of a Mother and Daughter" (1979) and with Jane Alexander in "Thursday's Child" (1983), an early depiction of lesbian parents.

She won Emmys for "The Betty Ford Story" (1987), "Face of a Stranger" (1992), and "Hysterical Blindness" (2003), and a second Golden Globe for "The Betty Ford Story." She won a Daytime Emmy for "The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie" (2004).

Rowlands made her film debut in 1958's "The High Cost of Loving."

Some of her films outside of her work with Cassavetes were "Lonely Are the Brave" (1962), "The Spiral Road" (1962), "Tony Rome" (1967), "The Brink's Job" (1978), "Tempest" (1982), "Light of Day" (1987), Woody Allen's "Another Woman" (1988), Jim Jarmusch's "Night on Earth" (1991), Lasse Hallström's "Once Around" (1991), "Something to Talk About" (1995), "The Neon Bible" (1995), "Hope Floats" (1998), "The Mighty" (1998), "Playing By Heart" (1998), "The Weekend" (1999), "The Skeleton Key" (2005), her daughter Zoe Cassavetes' "Broken English" (2007), "Parts Per Billion" (2014), and "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks" (2014).

Cheyenne Jackson, who starred with her in "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks," wrote on Instagram, "Gena Rowlands was one in a million. I got to be her very last leading man. (her words) in a little movie called 'Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.' Being with her was magical. She regaled me with stories of old Hollywood and her adventures with John. I asked everything I could think of and she answered it all. She adored her children and she loved being an artist. What a consummate actress. Always trying to get to the heart of the scene. The marrow. Rest in peace. The GOAT."

Her final work was in the short film "Unfortunate Circumstances," released in 2017.

Rowlands is survived by her second husband and by her children Nick, Alexandra and Zoe Cassavetes.