'The Notebook' Star Gena Rowlands Dies

The star of the cult film "The Notebook" Gena Rowlands has died at the age of 94. She passed away at her home in Indian Wells, California, after a long battle with Alzheimer's disease, TMZ reports.

The exact cause of her death has not yet been disclosed.

In June of this year, her 65-year-old son Nick Cassavetes, director of the film The Notebook, spoke about his mother's illness. This year, the film, in which Rowlands played Rachel McAdams's character as an adult suffering from Alzheimer's, turned 20 years old. According to him, they tried very hard to make everything look authentic.

"I asked my mom to play the adult Ellie, and we spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer's, trying to make it believable. And now she's been suffering from Alzheimer's for five years. It's just crazy — we lived through it, she played it, and now it's with us," Cassavetes said.

Rowlands' mother also suffered from Alzheimer's. After The Notebook was released, Gena Rowlands told O Magazine that the role was difficult for her. "I went through all of that with my mom, and if Nick hadn't directed the film, I don't think I would have done it - it was too hard. It was a hard film, but it was a wonderful film."

The film "The Notebook" was released in 2004, based on the 1996 novel of the same name by Nicholas Sparks. The main roles were played by Ryan Gosling and Rachel McAdams: they played a young couple who had an affair in the 1940s. Their story is read to an acquaintance from a memory diary by an elderly man in a nursing home.

Gena Rowlands is also known for her roles in A Woman Under the Influence (1974) and Gloria (1980), both directed by her late husband John Cassavetes. She was nominated for an Academy Award for both films.