LOS ANGELES — Gena Rowlands, who was hailed as one of the greatest actresses of all time and a shining example of independent cinema, starred in groundbreaking films by her husband, director John Cassavetes, and later enchanted audiences with her son’s tear-jerker The Notebook, has died. She was 94 years old.

Rowlands’ death was confirmed Wednesday by representatives for her son, filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, who revealed earlier this year that his mother was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. TMZ reported that Rowlands died Wednesday at her home in Indian Wells, California.

Outside the studio system, husband-and-wife team John Cassavetes and Rowlands created indelible portraits of working-class strivers and little people in films such as Woman Under the Influence, Gloria and Faces.

Rowlands made ten films with Cassavetes over four decades, including Minnie and Moskowitz (1971), Opening Night (1977) and Love Streams (1984).

She received an Oscar nomination for two of these films: in 1974 for “A Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a wife and mother who collapses under the burden of domestic harmony, and in 1980 for “Gloria,” about a woman who helps a young boy escape the mafia.

“He had a special, compassionate interest in women and their problems in society, how they were treated and how they solved and overcame their problems. That’s why there are interesting women in all his films, and you don’t need many of them,” she told AP in 2015.

In addition to the Oscar nominations, Rowlands has received three Primetime Emmy Awards, a Daytime Emmy and two Golden Globes. In 2015, she was awarded an honorary Oscar in recognition of her work and legacy in Hollywood. “You know what’s wonderful about being an actress? You don’t just live one life,” she said at the podium. “You live many lives.”

Rowlands was introduced to a new generation in her son’s blockbuster The Notebook, in which she played a woman whose memory is shattered and who looks back on a romance for the ages. Her younger self was played by Rachel McAdams. (She also appeared in Nick Cassavetes’ Unhook the Stars in 1996.)

In her later years, Rowlands made several appearances in films and on television, including in “The Skeleton Key” and the crime series “Monk.” Her last film appearance was in 2014, when she played a pensioner who befriends her gay dance instructor in “Six Weeks.”

One of her career triumphs was in 1974’s “Woman Under the Influence,” in which she played a lower-middle-class housewife who, according to the actress, “was completely vulnerable and generous; she had no sense of her own worth.” In “Gloria” (1980), she portrayed a faded showgirl who is threatened by her ex-boyfriend, a crime boss. For both roles, she was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.

She and Cassavetes met at the American School of Dramatic Arts when both were just starting their careers. They married four months later. In 1960, Cassavetes used his earnings from the television series “Johnny Stacatto” to finance his first film, “Shadows.”

Partly improvised and shot using natural light on New York City locations on a budget of $40,000, the film was praised by critics for its stark realism.

Gena (pronounced Jenna) Rowlands became a seasoned actress through live television dramas and tours in The Seven Year Itch and Time for Ginger, as well as Off-Broadway.