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Gena Rowlands’ ‘Mind Had Been Wiped Clean’ Before ‘The Notebook’ Star’s Death at Age 94
In a heartbreaking twist of fate, Hollywood legend Gena Rowlands went to her grave ravaged by the same brain-wasting disease that robbed her most famous character of her memories!
“Gena’s mind had been wiped clean,” a source exclusively reveals to Closer. “Sadly, it repeated the devastating effects she captured so well in The Notebook.”
The actress died at 94 after a long, debilitating battle with Alzheimer’s disease, barely able to recognize her closest friends and family near the end.
It was the same fate her Notebook character, Allie, suffered.
In the movie, a fellow nursing home resident, played by James Garner, reads to her a love story she had written down in a notebook about the husband she no longer recognizes.
“In real life, Gena’s family members shared pictures and memories with their mom before her death,” says the source. “They tried their best to help her remember her past!”
Gena’s son, director Nick Cassavetes, admits the irony was difficult for her family to handle.
Before she passed, Nick, 65, — her son with first hubby, actor-director John Cassavetes — said, “It’s so crazy. We lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
Gena died surrounded by her loved ones, including second husband Robert Forrest and daughter Alexandra.
Ironically, Gena once admitted her own mother’s battle with Alzheimer’s made her reluctant to accept the role in The Notebook.
“If Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it,” she said. “It was a tough but wonderful movie.”
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