After five years of fighting Alzheimer’s, Gena Rowlands, who played Emma in THE NOTEBOOK, has died at the age of 94.
Today, the actress died with her family and friends by her side.
Gena’s son, director Nick Cassavetes, told everyone in June that she had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
TMZ said he was with her family at her home in Indian Wells, California, when she died.
Gena’s son said in June that she had been fighting Alzheimer’s for five years and was experiencing “full dementia.” There is still no official word on what caused her death.
In The Notebook, her character, Allie Hamilton, also had Alzheimer’s.
GENENA IN MY MIND
When news of her death spread, fans rushed to social media to share their thoughts.
An important X account called @FilmUpdates posted a picture of the actress with the words “Gena Rowlands has sadly passed away at the age of 94.”
In the responses, fans sent their condolences.
“Heading to watch The Notebook tonight,” wrote one fan.
Fourth, “This is such sad news. RIP,” they cried.
“That actress is so good!” Writer five wrote, “RIP.”
Someone else wrote, “Wow, awesomely long life.”
“Not my notebook grandma,” said someone else.
“This hurts a great deal…”One more person wrote, “Rest in peace.”
GINA’S BATTLE
Genea’s son talked about her private health battle in June, when the movie industry celebrated The Notebook’s 20th anniversary.
Nick talked to Entertainment Weekly about how his mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
“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,” he said.
“She does have full dementia.” We lived it, she acted it, and now it’s our turn.
Gena played an older Allie in the 2004 movie, which showed how she fought the disease.
Emma Stone, who played Allie when she was younger, was played by Rachel McAdams.
Gena talked about how important the role was to her because her mother also had Alzheimer’s disease after the movie came out.
In an interview with O Magazine, she said, “This last one was especially hard because I play a character who has Alzheimer’s.”
“My mother and I went through that, and I don’t think I would have done it if Nick hadn’t directed the movie. It’s just too hard.” The movie was intense and wonderful.
THE STORY OF GENA
Gena has played many famous roles, but many people know her best for her role as Allie in The Notebook.
In the 1950s and 1960s, she had a lot of TV roles before her first movie, The High Cost of Loving, came out in 1958.
After four years, she played the lead role in Lonely Are the Brave, which starred Kirk Douglas and Walter Matthau.
Gina and her late first husband, John Cassavetes, also made a lot of movies together in the 1960s and 1980s.
John fathered all three of Gena’s children: Nick, Alexandra, and Zoe. He died in 1989.
Every one of their three kids is an actor or a director.