Gena Rowlands dead at 94: The Notebook star passed away at her California home – two months after revealing Alzheimer’s battle

Acclaimed actress Gena Rowlands had died at age 94.

The two-time Golden Globe winner passed away at her Indian Wells, California home on Wednesday afternoon, TMZ reports.

She was surrounded by family, including her husband of 12-years, Robert Forrest, and eldest daughter, Alexandra Cassavetes, 58.

No cause of death has been revealed at this time. 

She famously portrayed the older version of actress Rachel McAdams‘ Allie in her son Nick Cassavetes’ beloved 2004 film The Notebook starring Ryan Gosling.

Nick, 65, recently revealed that his mother — like her heartbreaking character in The Notebook — had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

He disclosed to Entertainment Weekly in June 2024 that Gena had been battling the disease for five years, and was now ‘in full dementia.’

Nick said: ‘I got my mom to play older Allie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s.

‘She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.’

Although she had a decades-long Hollywood career, Gena’s depiction of Old Allie in The Notebook made the movie a love story for the ages.

The Notebook, based on Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel, tells a poignant love story between working-class Noah and wealthy Allie, who fall deeply in love while defying societal differences.

The film cuts between the unlikely couple’s passionate youth and the present day, where an elderly Noah, disguised as ‘Duke,’ reads their story from a notebook to a fellow nursing home resident – his wife Allie (Gena Rowlands) now suffering from dementia.

To keep the spark alive and rekindle their romance in spite of her memory loss, Noah has been reading out of a notebook written by Allie in the beginning stages of her illness, detailing their love story so he can help her remember him.

In a 2004 interview with O Magazine, Rowlands opened up about how her own mother’s struggle with the disease impacted her decision to play Allie.

‘I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it — it’s just too hard. It was a tough but wonderful movie.’

Nick, reflecting on his experience directing his mother in The Notebook, shared a bittersweet memory with Entertainment Weekly in June.

After showing the completed film to studio executives, they requested a reshoot. Specifically, they wanted Rowlands to display stronger emotions when her character rediscovers her memories and reunites with her love, Noah (James Garner).

Nick recounted the awkward moment of informing his mother about the reshoots, and she was not happy; ‘Let me get this straight. We’re reshooting because of my performance?’ she said.

‘We go to reshoots, and now it’s one of those things where mama’s pissed and I had asked her, “Can you do it, mom?” She goes, “I can do anything,”‘ Rowland’s son recalled.

‘I promise you, on my father’s life, this is true: Teardrops came flying out of her eyes when she saw [Garner], and she burst into tears. And I was like, okay, well, we got that … It’s the one time I was in trouble on set.’

Nick said he is not only proud of the film’s success, cemented as a romance ‘cult classic’ for the past 20 years – he also looks backs warmly at the times he shared with his mother on set.

‘It’s always a shock to hear that as much time has gone by as it has, but it makes sense. I’m just happy that it exists,’ he says, adding, ‘It seems to have worked and I’m very proud of it.’

Wisconsin-born Gena dazzled on the big screen and stage for seven decades before retiring from her stellar career in 2014, at the age of 84.

Many of her best performances were in collaboration with her actor-director husband John Cassavetes, who died in 1989 and is father to her three kids Nick, Alexandra and Zoe, 54.

They worked on a total of 10 film together – notably A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980) as her performances in both films earned her Best Actress Oscar nods.

Though she lost out on the Oscars, A Woman Under the Influence earned her an acting Golden Globe. 

She also starred in Woody Allen’s film Another Woman (1988), where she played the philosophy professor Marion Post who becomes fascinated with a psychiatric patient named Hope.

As for her TV work, Gena is a four-time Emmy Award winner and notably starred in a number of acclaimed TV miniseries’ and movies, including The Betty Ford Story (1987).

She won both an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her portrayal of the former first lady.

Gena earned a Primetime Emmy Award nod — the last of her career — in 2009 for her memorable guest role on the USA sitcom Monk. 

In 2015, Gena was awarded an Honorary Academy Award presented to her by son Nick after announcing her acting retirement.

23 years after her husband John Cassavetes’ death in 1989, Gena married retired business man Robert Forrest.

They tied the knot in 2012 but they’d been romantically linked since the early 2000s.

Robert has accompanied Gena to a number of premieres and events for her projects, including Hysterical Blindness (2002), The Notebook (2004) and The Da Vinci Code (2006).