Virginia Kathryn “Gina” Rowlands, legendary American actress, three-time Emmy winner, two-time Oscar nominee for portraying strong characters or women with serious health problems in films such as Gloria (1980) and A Woman Under the Influence (1974 ), directed by her Greek-American husband John Cassavetes, has died at the age of 94, her son, Nick Cassavetes, told Entertainment Weekly.

Gina Rowlands starred in dozens of motion pictures during her career, which began on stage and television in the 1950s and included roles in films directed by her actor, screenwriter and director husband.

Nick Cassavetes revealed in June, in the same American magazine, that his mother suffered from Alzheimer’s, like her own mother, and also the character she embodied in the movie The Notebook (2004).

“He has complete dementia. And it’s so bad — we lived it, it played out on the big screen, and now it’s mocking us,” he had said.

Gina Rowlands and John Cassavetes were described as the golden couple of independent film producers in the 1970s and 1980s. John Cassavetes was considered a pioneer of the genre, Gina Rowlands his muse. They made 10 films together, until his death in 1989. She continued her career afterwards, working with, among others, directors such as Woody Allen.

The daughter of a banker and politician father and an actress mother, born on June 19, 1930 in the state of Wisconsin, although she did not win an Oscar for the roles she played, Gina Rowlands received an honorary award from the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for her lifetime achievement in 2015.