American actress Virginia Cathryn Rowlands, known as Gena Rowlands, died on Wednesday at the age of 94. Her son, director Nick Cassavetes, confirmed the news to Entertainment Weekly.
The family did not give details about the cause of the actress’s death; however, a few weeks ago, it was revealed that Gena had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for 5 years.
Many film lovers recognized the actress for her leading role in the film “The Notebook,” directed by her son, where she played the adult version of Allie.
Rowlands had already retired from the stage. The film director revealed that his mother’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis in 2019 had escalated to “full-blown dementia.”
After finishing her university studies, the actress moved to New York and made her Broadway debut in 1956 in the production “In the Middle of the Night,” and two years later she landed her first role on the big screen in the film “The High Cost of Living.” During her career, she collaborated with filmmaker John Cassavetes, who was her first husband, but in 2012 she married Robert, her current husband.
Throughout her career, she won awards such as two Emmys for “The Betty Ford Story” and “The Face of a Stranger,” two Golden Globes, and an honorary Oscar in 2015, the year in which she retired.
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