Gena Rowlands: Star of "The Notebook" and "A Woman Under the Influence," Gena Rowlands, passes away at age 94

 Hailed as one of the greatest actors to have ever worked in theater, Gena Rowlands was a trailblazer in independent film, appearing in ground-breaking films directed by her husband, John Cassavetes, and winning hearts with her son's heartwarming drama "The Notebook." Sadly, she passed away. She was ninety-four.

Rowlands' son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, had his death confirmed on Wednesday. He made his mother's Alzheimer's diagnosis public earlier this year. According to TMZ, Rowlands passed away at her Indian Wells, California, home on Wednesday.

Working outside of the studio system, John Cassavetes and Rowlands, husband and wife, portrayed working-class aspirants and small-timers in films like "A Woman Under the Influence," "Gloria," and "Faces," leaving enduring portraits in their wake.

With Cassavetes, Rowlands produced ten films over the course of forty years, including "Minnie and Moskowitz" in 1971, "Opening Night" in 1977, and "Love Streams" in 1984.

For two of them—"A Woman Under the Influence" (1974), in which she portrayed a mother and wife breaking under the strain of domestic harmony, and "Gloria" (1980), which tells the story of a woman who helps a young boy escape the mob—she received two Oscar nominations.

Rowlands won three Primetime Emmy Awards, one Daytime Emmy, two Golden Globes, and was nominated for an Oscar. In 2015, she received an honorary Academy Award in appreciation of her contributions to Hollywood and her legacy. What's so great about being an actress, you ask? "One life is not enough," she remarked from the platform. "You have multiple lives."

In her son's hit film "The Notebook," Rowlands brought in a new audience with her portrayal of a memory-damaged woman reflecting on a once-in-a-lifetime romance. Rachel McAdams portrayed her in her younger years. (In 1996, she also made an appearance in Nick Cassavetes' "Unhook the Stars").

Rowlands appeared in a number of TV shows and movies in her later years, such as "The Skeleton Key" and the detective series "Monk." In the 2014 film "Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks," she portrayed a retiree who makes friends with her homosexual dance instructor. It was her last film role.

"Woman Under the Influence," from 1974, was one of her biggest hits. In the film, the actress played a lower middle-class housewife who "was totally vulnerable and giving; she had no sense of her own worth." She played a faded showgirl who was threatened by her ex-boyfriend, a mob boss, in the 1980 film "Gloria". She received two Oscar nominations for best actress.

At the start of their careers, she and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts. Four months later, they were married. The money Cassavetes made from the television show "Johnny Stacatto" in 1960 went toward funding his debut picture, "Shadows." Critics praised it for its stark realism and noted that it was partially improvised, shot on a $40,000 budget using natural light in New York locations.

"The Seven Year Itch" and "Time for Ginger" tours, along with off-Broadway work, helped Gena Rowlands—pronounced "Jenna"—become a seasoned actor.

She had the freedom to select her film roles after leaving her contract with MGM. She starred in TV shows like "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Bonanza," "Dr. Kildare," and "The Virginian" when nothing else drew her attention. One of the highlights of her career was collaborating with her idol Bette Davis on the 1979 television film "Strangers."

Her other films include "Lonely Are the Brave" starring Kirk Douglas, "The Spiral Road" starring Rock Hudson, "A Child Is Waiting" starring Burt Lancaster and Judy Garland, directed by John Cassavetes, "Two Minute Warning" starring Charlton Heston, "Tempest" (co-starring with Cassavetes and Molly Ringwald, in her screen debut), and Paul Schrader's 1987 study of a blue-collar family, "Light of Day," which focused on a mother who wants to do what is right for her children.