Whenever an actor passes away, the expression “greatest to ever do it” is often tossed around. In the case of four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner Gena Rowlands, the legendary star stage, television, and film with a career spanning nearly seven decades, the expression feels somewhat inadequate. Her presence on screen was unwavering and incomparable, a captivating presence who could express a character’s entire life story with the lift of an eyebrow or the lighting of a cigarette. She was the type of performer that actors aspired to be more like, and displayed an authentic sense of vulnerability that few have come close to matching. Her passing was first reported by TMZ. She was 94.
Rowlands was graced with an honorary Oscar in 2015, a year after her final on-screen performance. She had been nominated twice before, and one could easily argue that she should have taken home the statue both times.
Born Virginia Cathryn “Gena” Rowlands, she first seriously pursued acting by studying drama at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. Throughout the 1950s, she performed on stage through repertory companies, making her Broadway debut in “The Seven Year Itch” before taking the show on the road on the natural tour. The stage brought her to the small screen, making her television breakthrough with “Top Secret” opposite Paul Stewart. Rowlands made her film debut in “The High Cost of Loving” in 1958, but her legacy is engraved on the souls of cinephiles everywhere thanks to her frequent collaborations with her late husband John Cassavetes.
An absolute legend is gone
John Cassavetes and Gena Rowlands represent one of the greatest creative collaborations in cinema history, with the pair working on 10 films together, including “A Woman Under the Influence,” “Opening Night,” and “Gloria.” Each film provided her with the chance to be extraordinary — bringing women to life with such ferocious authenticity they felt like people we had known for years. Rowlands excelled beyond starring in Cassavetes’ intimate examinations of human behavior — like her Primetime Emmy Award-winning performances in “The Betty Ford Story,” “Face of a Stranger” and “Hysterical Blindness,” as well as the Daytime Emmy-winner “The Incredible Mrs. Ritchie” — but Cassavetes implicitly understood Rowlands talents, and she understood his vision just the same. Rowlands’ career stretched well into her 80s, never losing the touch of empathy or the all-encompassing pool of emotional awareness she brought to each role.
With each performance, she became an even sturdier powerhouse and continued acting until Alzheimer’s made that no longer a possibility. Her son Nick Cassavetes, who directed her in “The Notebook,” announced her diagnosis in June of 2024. A cause of death was not made known at the time of publication, but it was reported that she passed in her home in Indian Wells, California, surrounded by family. She is survived by her husband, Robert Forrest, and children Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe Cassavetes.
A once-in-a-generation performer as beautiful as she was raw, Gena Rowlands will be greatly missed