Gena Rowlands obit

Gena Rowlands, acclaimed American actress and 'The Notebook' star, dies at 94

 

She was not on the list.

NEW YORK, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Gena Rowlands, the acclaimed American actress, three-time Emmy winner and dual Oscar nominee for her vivid portrayals of strong, troubled women in the crime drama "Gloria" and "A Woman Under the Influence," has died at the age of 94, Entertainment Weekly reported on Wednesday, citing her son, Nick Cassavetes.

Rowlands starred in dozens of films during a career that began on stage and television in the 1950s and included award-winning roles in movies directed by her first husband, actor, writer and director John Cassavetes.

Nick Cassavetes revealed in June that Rowlands had Alzheimer's, like her own mother and the character she portrayed in the 2004 film "The Notebook."

"She's in full dementia. And it's so crazy - we lived it, she acted it, and now it's on us," her son, who directed the film, told Entertainment Weekly.

Rowlands and Cassavetes were the golden couple of independent films in the United States in the 1970s and '80s. Cassavetes was a pioneer in cinema verite and Rowlands was his muse.

"Independent filmmaking existed before Cassavetes, but Cassavetes, working with Rowlands, managed to make an independent cinema that borrowed from Hollywood - not in plots or styles but in actorly allure and dramatic power," the New Yorker said in 2016.

The tall, blonde actress made 10 films with Cassavetes before his death in 1989, including the psychological drama "Opening Night" (1977), the marital saga "Faces" (1968) and 1984's "Love Streams," in which she played his sister.

"There was always a manic energy to the performances she gave in her late husband's films, a fear of failure, a desire to love," the awards website Golden Derby said of Rowlands.

In "A Woman Under the Influence," which Cassavetes originally wrote as a play and which is considered among her best performances, Rowlands played Mabel Longhetti, a housewife struggling with mental illness.

As the tough, determined title character in Cassavetes' 1980 film "Gloria," she rescued and protected a young, orphaned boy from mobsters determined to kill him.

"Rowlands' sublime acting is almost unprecedentedly id-driven: her beleaguered heroines operate from such deep reserves of need that can only be accessed by Rowlands, who doesn't just claim moments but wrestles with them in order to extract even tougher layers of authenticity," critic Matthew Eng said on the Tribeca News website in 2016.

Although she didn't win an Oscar for either role, Rowlands received an Honorary Academy Award in 2015.

ALWAYS WANTED TO ACT

Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands was born on June 19, 1930, in Cambria, Wisconsin. Her father was a banker and politician, and her mother was an actress.

After college she moved to New York, where she studied drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and met fellow student Cassavetes.

"I always wanted to be an actress; I read so much when I was little, and it revealed to me there were other things to be. You can live a lot of lives and have a lot of fun and see a lot of things," she told the New York Times in 2016.

Rowlands worked in regional theater and TV before making her Broadway debut in "Middle of the Night" in 1956. Two years later she landed her first film role in "The High Cost of Loving" and appeared in Cassavetes's directorial debut film "Shadows."

"It was not like working for anybody else," she told film critic Roger Ebert about her husband in 2016. "The freedom that John gave his actors was astounding."

Rowlands continued to work in films, including Woody Allen's 1988 drama "Another Woman," and TV following Cassavetes's death.

She won best actress Emmys for the "The Betty Ford Story" (1987) and the drama "Face of a Stranger (1992) and took home a best supporting trophy in a miniseries or movie for "Hysterical Blindness" (2002).

The independent film icon found a new audience when she returned to the big screen in 2004 as the older version of actress Rachel McAdams's character in "The Notebook."

Rowlands was married to Cassavetes from 1954 until his death. They had three children. In 2012, she wed businessman Robert Forrest.

"It's a tricky life but it was so exciting and wonderful because you were doing what you really wanted do it," she said about acting and making independent films.

 

Filmography

Film

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1958    The High Cost of Loving  Jenny Fry      

1959            Shadows        Woman in Nightclub            Uncredited

1962    Lonely Are the Brave            Jerry Bondi  

The Spiral Road    Els       

1963    A Child Is Waiting            Sophie Widdicombe    

1967    Tony Rome   Rita Kosterman      

1968    Faces            Jeannie Rapp   

1969            Machine Gun McCain            Rosemary Scott         

1971    Minnie and Moskowitz            Minnie Moore 

1974    A Woman Under the Influence            Mabel Longhetti         

1976    Two-Minute Warning            Janet   

1977            Opening Night Myrtle Gordon           

1978    The Brink's Job            Mary Pino    

1980    Gloria            Gloria Swenson         

1982            Tempest           Antonia Dimitrius          

1984    Love Streams            Sarah Lawson           

I'm Almost Not Crazy:

John Cassavetes, the Man & His Work   Herself            Documentary Short (released in 1989)

1987    Light of Day            Jeanette Rasnick        

1988            Another Woman            Marion Post    

1990            Hollywood Mavericks            Herself            Documentary

1991    Once Around Marilyn Bella    

Night on Earth            Victoria Snelling

Ted & Venus            Mrs. Turner 

1993    Slient Cries    Peggy Sutherland       

1995            Something to Talk About   Georgia King    

The Neon Bible            Mae Morgan           

1996            Unhook the Stars            Mildred "Millie" Hawks 

1997    She's So Lovely            Miss Jane Green      

1998    Paulie            Ivy      

Hope Floats            Ramona Calvert         

The Mighty            Gram   

Playing by Heart    Hannah

1999    The Weekend            Laura Ponti   

2000    Light Keeps Me Company            Herself – interviewee            Documentary

2004    Taking Lives    Mrs. Asher  

The Notebook            Older Allie Calhoun   

2005    The Skeleton Key            Violet Devereaux       

2006    Paris, je t'aime            Gena            Segment: Quartier Latin

2007    Broken English  Vivien Wilder-Mann   

Persepolis            Grandmother  Voice; English dubbed version

2011    Olive               

2012    Yellow            Mimi   

2013    Parts Per Billion            Esther  

2014    Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks            Lily Harrison          

Television

Year     Title            Role            Notes

1954    Top Secret  Powell            Episode: "This Man Is Death"

1955    The Way of the World  Paula Graves

Robert Montgomery Presents            Myrtle Wilson  Season 6 episode 33: "The Great Gatsby"

Ponds Theater            Janet            Season 2 episode 34: "The Ways of Courage"

Armstrong Circle Theatre            Lugene            Season 5 episode 40: "Time for Love"

Studio One on Hollywood            Betty            Season 7 episode 50: "A Chance of Love"

Appointment with Adventure            Sally Mason            Episodes: "Caribbean Cruise" and "The Pirate's House"

The United States Steel Hour    Lily            Season 3 episode 7: "Ashton Buys a Horse"

Goodyear Television Playhouse            Multiple            Episodes: "Do It Yourself" (as Eve) and "The Expendable House" (as Betty)

1958    General Electric Theater            Dorothy Dickenson            Season 7 episode 12: "The Girl with the Flaxen Hair"

1959            Laramie          Laurel DeWalt            Season 1 episode 9: "The Run to Tumavaca"

Johnny Staccato            Nina Van Ness            Season 1 episode 9: "Fly Baby, Fly"

Markham            Rita Evans   Season 1 episode 28: "The Altar"

Riverboat            Rose Traynor            Season 1 episode 14: "Guns for Empire"

1960            Adventures in Paradise            Dr. Abigail Brent            Season 1 episode 28: "The Death-Divers"

Alfred Hitchcock Presents            Lucille Jones    Season 6 episode 2: "The Doubtful Doctor"

The Tab Hunter Show            Barbara / Penelope            Season 1 episode 8: "Double Trouble"

1961    The Islanders            Pepper Mint     Season 1 episode 20: "Island Witness"

Target: The Corruptors!            Marian Praisewater            Season 1 episode 5: "The Poppy Vendor"

1961–1962            87th Precinct            Teddy Carella            Episodes: "The Floater", "Lady in Waiting", "Occupation, Citizen", and "Step Forward"

1962    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour    Helen Martin  Season 1 episode 11: "Ride the Nightmare"

1963    The Dick Powell Theatre Mrs. Canfield            Season 2 episode 15: "Project X"

The Lloyd Bridges Show            Leslie Kaufman            Season 1 episode 20: "A Personal Matter"

77 Sunset Strip            Barbara Adams            Season 5 episode 25: "Flight 307"

Bonanza            Ragan Miller   Season 5 episode 1: "She Walks in Beauty"

The Virginian            Savannah         Season 2 episode 3: "No Tears for Savannah"

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre June            Season 1 episode 9: "It's Mental Work"

Breaking Point            Shelley Osborne Peters            Season 1 episode 14: "Heart of Marble, Body of Shame"

The Alfred Hitchcock Hour    Louise Henderson            Season 1 episode 23: "The Lonely Hours"

Kraft Suspense Theatre Janet Cord    Season 1 episode 6: "One Step Down"

1964    The Alfred Hitchcock Hour    Diana Justin    Season 2 episode 19: "Murder Case"

Dr. Kildare            Helen Scott    Season 3 episode 20: "To Walk in Grace"

Burke's Law            Multiple            Episodes: "Who Killed What's His Name?" (as Paulette Shane) and "Who Killed Annie Foran?" (as Mitzi Carlisle)

1965    Kraft Suspense Theatre Lois Baxter  Season 2 episode 18: "Won't It Ever Be Morning?

1966    Run for Your Life            Charlotte Hyde            Season 1 episode 17: "The Rediscovery of Charlotte Hyde"

The Long, Hot Summer            Karen Roberts            Season 1 episode 20: "From This Day Forward"

1967    The Road West            Karen Collier  Season 1 episode 16: "Beyond the Hill"

The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.            Baroness Ingrid            Season 1 episode 20: "The Fountain of Youth Affair"

Peyton Place            Adrienne Van Leyden            39 episodes

1968            Garrison's Gorillas            Duchess           Season 1 episode 24: "The Frame-Up"

1971            Medical Center            Frances Delaney            Season 2 episode 23: "The Man in Hiding"

1972    Circle of Fear Kate Lucas   Season 1 episode 2: "The Concrete Captain"

1973            Medical Center            Karen Coberly            Season 5 episode 8: "Child of Violence"

1974    Marcus Welby, M.D.            Lorrain Denby  Season 6 episode 13: "The 266 Days"

1975            Columbo            Elizabeth Van Wyck            Season 4 episode 5: "Playback"

1978    A Question of Love    Linda Ray Guettner            Television movie

1979            Strangers:

The Story of a Mother and Daughter            Abigail Mason

1983            Thursday's Child            Victoria Alden

Faerie Tale Theatre Witch            Season 2 episode 1: "Rapunzel"

1985    An Early Frost            Katherine Pierson            Television movie

1987    The Betty Ford Story    Betty Ford

1990            Montana          Bess Guthrie

1991    Face of a Stranger            Pat Foster

1992    Crazy in Love Honora Swift

1993            Anything for John            Herself            Television documentary

1994    Parallel Lives    Francie Pomerantz            Television movie

1998    Grace and Glorie            Grace Stiles

Best Friends for Life Mrs. Harriet Cahill

2000    The Color of Love: Jacey's Story            Georgia Porter

2001    Wild Iris       Minnie Brinn

2002    Charms for the Easy Life      Ms. Charlie Kate

2003            Broadway: The Golden Age            Herself            Documentary series

Hysterical Blindness            Virginia Miller            Television movie

2004    The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie  Evelyn Ritchie

2006            Numb3rs         Mrs. Hellman            Season 3 episode 3: "Provenance"

2007    What If God Were the Sun?     Melissa Eisenbloom            Television movie

2009    Monk            Marge Johnson            Season 7 episode 12: "Mr. Monk & the Lady Next Door"

2010    NCIS            Joann Fielding            Season 7 episode 16: "Mother's Day"