JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
The Notebook Star Gena Rowlands Dies At 94 After Suffering From Dementia
Gena Rowlands who starred as the older version of Rachel McAdams’ character, Allie in The Notebook has passed away at 94.
Trigger Warning: This article contains mention of death.
The Notebook star, Gena Rowlands, has died at 94 from dementia, a condition the performer dealt with before her death.
She lived in Indian Wells, California, where she died on Wednesday, August 14th, surrounded by family and friends like her spouse, Robert Forrest, and daughter Alexandra.
According to TMZ, which first reported the death news and was later confirmed by her son Nick Cassavetes’ agent, the cause of death was not immediately disclosed. Nick Cassavetes revealed that his mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease in June 2024.
Born in June 1930 in Cambria, Wisconsin, Rowlands began her acting career during the 1950s, when she made her Broadway debut in The Seven Year Itch. Soon after, she moved to television, including Studio One, Laramie, Johnny Staccato (featuring her late husband John Cassavetes), Bonanza, and The Virginian, among others. In 1958, she made her first film appearance in The High Cost of Loving.
Her marriage to John Cassavetes marked an incredibly important period for both their relationships and their creative partnership. These comprised films such as A Child Is Waiting (1963), Faces (1968), and Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), among others. Their independent attitude set them apart from other Hollywood stars, who often invested money in their own projects.
Some of Rowland’s finest hours have been spent working on these collaborative projects, with Oscar nominations for Best Actress coming out of Woman Under Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980). While describing those years as stormy times between them, Gina considered them part of the normalcy that is often associated with marriages.
Home movie releases such as An Early Frost (1985) and The Betty Ford Story (1987), both starring Rowlands, brought critical acclaim, with the actress taking home an Emmy Award each for her performances in them. Two more daytime Emmys came her way for Face of a Stranger (1992) and Hysterical Blindness (2003).
Her son Nick Cassavetes directed Gena Rowlands in the cult classic film The Notebook (2004), while Zoe Cassavetes, her daughter, cast her in Broken English (2007). In 2015, she was bestowed an honorary Academy Award, where she mentioned how much her husband, John Cassavetes, influenced her acting career by referring to the many lives that she has lived on stage.
Gena Rowlands married John Cassavetes in 1954, and they were together until his death due to cirrhosis complications in 1989. Together, they had three children: Nick, Zoe, and Alexandra. After retiring from business life, she remarried Robert Forrest.
She said that she never expected so much popularity for The Notebook, explaining its great success through depicting love passing all obstacles of time—something unusual among most films today. She said to The Hollywood Reporter, “I think it was such a big hit because it was about the realization that love can last your whole life. You don’t see it depicted that way a lot.”
When Nick Cassavetes let out that his mother had Alzheimer's, he talked about the relevance of this role in The Notebook, where the mother played a woman who suffered from this illness.
Gena Rowlands is survived by her husband, Robert Forrest, three children: Nick, Zoe, and Alexandra, as well as five grandchildren.
ALSO READ: Who Was Rachael Lillis? All About the Actress Who Voiced Misty in Pokémon as She Dies at 46
Latest Articles
