Gena Rowlands, hailed as one of the greatest actors to ever practice the craft and a guiding light in independent cinema as a star in groundbreaking movies by her director husband, John Cassavetes, and who later charmed audiences in her son’s tear-jerker “The Notebook,” has died.

Celebrated actor and honorary Academy Award recipient Gena Rowlands is suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, says her son, the filmmaker Nick Cassavetes.