Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer’s, her son Nick Cassavetes says
NEW YORK — The celebrated actor and honorary Academy Award recipient Gena Rowlands is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, her son, the filmmaker Nick Cassavetes, has revealed.
Cassavetes, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly published Tuesday, said Rowlands has had Alzheimer's for five years. In the 2004 film “The Notebook,” Cassavetes directed his mother, who played the older version of the character played by Rachel McAdams, as a woman with dementia.
"We spent a lot of time talking about Alzheimer’s and wanting to be authentic with it, and now, for the last five years, she’s had Alzheimer’s,” Cassavetes said. “She’s in full dementia. And it’s so crazy — we lived it, she acted it, and now it’s on us.”
A representative for Rowlands confirmed that Cassavetes “speaks for the family.”
Rowlands, who received an honorary Oscar in 2015, made 10 films with her husband, John Cassavetes, including 1974's “A Woman Under the Influence” and 1980's “Gloria.” She was Oscar nominated for both performances. She also won four Emmy awards. Her last credited performance was the 2014 comedy “Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks.”
Rowlands's mother, actor Lady Rowlands, also had Alzheimer's. During the making of “The Notebook,” Gena Rowlands said she channeled her mother.
“I went through that with my mother, and if Nick hadn’t directed the film, I don’t think I would have gone for it — it’s just too hard,” Rowlands told O magazine in 2004. “It was a tough but wonderful movie.”
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WEST CHESTER, Pa. — Former “Jackass” star Bam Margera will spend six months on probation after pleading guilty to disorderly conduct Wednesday over an altercation at his home near Philadelphia.
Margera, 44, had been charged with assaulting his brother and making threats to other family members during what the brother called a “frightening and unpredictable” two-week visit home last year.
The plea ends a long legal case that spun out of his stay at the Chester County home known as Castle Bam. At a hearing last year, Margera told the judge he was getting drug and alcohol treatment.
Jess Margera, at the same court hearing, called his brother “a good dude when he’s not messed up” but said he had exhibited troubling behavior for two decades and, while home, had been awake for days. Jess Margera suffered a ruptured eardrum in the altercation, while Margera’s girlfriend called police when he kicked in her bedroom door, the brother testified.
Defense lawyer William J. Brennan said Margera pleaded guilty to two summary offenses, and is now clean, sober and productive a year after the arrest.
“You can really say he won his case before today just by turning his life around,” Brennan said Wednesday.
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NEW YORK — Justin Timberlake avoided mentioning his recent DWI arrest during his Tuesday night show at Madison Square Garden.
The “Cry Me a River” crooner was in high spirits as he continued his Forget Tomorrow World Tour.
“We came to have a good time tonight, New York City,” he said during one song break.
“Can I ask y’all a question? I wanna get your opinion on something. Is this the greatest f—ing city in the world? I think it’s the greatest city in the world,” he continued, to massive applause.
Timberlake, 43, sang “New York, New York” towards the end of the set and gave a shoutout to filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who he said was in the audience.
The 10-time Grammy winner was busted for drunk driving early last Tuesday after he allegedly ran a stop sign in Sag Harbor, Long Island, and failed multiple field sobriety tests.
The singer was arraigned on a single DWI charge and is scheduled to appear in court on July 26, coinciding with his planned performances in Kraków, Poland. It remains unclear how the court date will impact those shows.
Despite the controversy, Timberlake’s tour has continued unabated for the time being. During his Chicago concert on Friday, Timberlake acknowledged the incident, telling the audience, “We’ve been together through ups and downs, and lefts and rights. And it’s been a tough week. But you’re here. And I’m here. And nothing can change this moment right now.
“I know sometimes I’m hard to love, but you keep on loving me and I love you right back,” he continued as the crowd erupted into cheers. “Thank you so much.”
An insider previously told Entertainment Tonight that Timberlake was “feeling remorseful, ashamed and humiliated” following the arrest.
From combined wire services
