US Actress Gena Rowlands Dies at 94: Reports

Gena Rowlands, an award-winning US actress renowned for her roles in films directed by her first husband, John Cassavetes, passed away on Wednesday at the age of 94, according to US media reports.

Rowlands died peacefully surrounded by her family at her home in Indian Wells, California, as reported by US entertainment publication TMZ.

While no official cause of death was provided immediately, Rowlands’s son, Nick Cassavetes, disclosed in June that she had been battling Alzheimer’s disease for the past five years, according to the New York Times.

Rowlands starred in 10 films directed by John Cassavetes and was married to him for nearly 35 years until his death in 1989.

Beginning in the 1960s, the couple formed a compelling and dynamic on-screen partnership that explored themes of passion and self-destruction, often set against a backdrop of alcohol and infidelity.

One of her most notable performances was in “A Woman Under the Influence” (1974), where she portrayed the harrowing descent of a housewife into mental illness. This role earned her the first of two Oscar nominations.

Woody Allen, who cast her in his 1988 film “Another Woman,” once said Rowlands was “incapable of an unreal moment.”

In 1992, Winona Ryder, who co-starred with Rowlands in Jim Jarmusch’s “Night on Earth,” expressed a similar sentiment by stating, “Whatever I say about Gena isn’t enough because she’s so incredible.”

Born on June 19, 1930, in Cambria, Wisconsin, Rowlands was raised in a cultured middle-class family. Her father was a state senator, and her mother was a painter and occasional actress.

She attended New York’s American Academy of Drama, where she met John Cassavetes in 1953. A year later, the two were married.

Their collaboration resulted in many of Rowlands’s standout performances, most notably in “A Woman Under the Influence,” which also garnered an Oscar nomination for Cassavetes as director.

Rowlands delivered a captivating performance as Mabel, a housewife who descends into madness, opposite Peter Falk, who played her silent, hardworking husband.

Cassavetes died from liver failure in 1989, following years of alcoholism. Even after his death, Rowlands continued to act in films and television, winning four Emmys.

The couple had three children, all of whom pursued careers in film and television. Her son Nick directed her in “The Notebook” alongside Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams in 2004.

In 2012, Rowlands married retired businessman Robert Forrest. In 2015, she received an honorary Academy Award, coinciding with her retirement from acting.

Source: AFP, TMZ, The New York Times