The great actress Gena Rowlands passed away at the age of 94 - She had been battling Alzheimer's since 2019

Rowlands died surrounded by family members at her home in Indian Wells, California, according to TMZ. A representative for her son, writer-director Nick Cassavetes, confirmed her death. He had been battling Alzheimer's since 2019.

The American film, theater and television actress was awarded 2 Golden Globes and 4 Emmy Awards and became known for her participation in her husband's films.

Gena Rowlands was born in Madison, Wisconsin in 1930. Her parents were Mary Ellen Neal and Edwin Marwin Rowlands, a banker, a member of the Wisconsin Legislature and a member of the Wisconsin Progressive Party. He also had a brother David.

In the early 1950s, Rowlands participated in plays performed at the Provincetown Theatre. She made her Broadway debut in George Axelrod's Seven Year Itch and then toured the US territory with the troupe.

Rowlands made her film debut in 1958 in The High Cost of Loving and after a few supporting roles in various films, she was directed by her husband John Cassavetes for the first time in 1963 in A Child is Waiting). He gained worldwide recognition for Cassavetes' film "Faces" (Faces) in 1968 and their collaboration continued with the films: Machine Gun McCain (1969), Minnie and Moskowitz (1971),  A Woman Under the Influence, 1974(for which she received critical Golden Globe awards and her first Best Actress Oscar nomination, losing to Ellen Burstyn), Two-Minute Warning (1976), Opening Night 1977), Gloria (1980) (for which she received her second Best Actress Oscar nomination, losing to Sissy Spacek), Tempest (1982) (based on the play by William Shakespeare and shot in Greece, directed by Paul Mazursky) and Love Streams (1984) which received the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.

Gena Rowlands was married to the Greek-born director, actor and screenwriter John Cassavetes from 1954 until his death in 1989. They had three children who all followed in their parents' footsteps in the field of cinema.