Lady Rowlands
Lady Rowlands was an Irish-American film actress. Most of her work came in the films of John Cassavetes, who was married to her daughter, the Academy Award-nominated and four-time Emmy Award-winning actress Gena Rowlands.Life and career
Rowlands was the daughter of Tennessee Virginia and William Joel Neal of Irish descent. She was married to Edwin Myrwyn Rowlands, a banker and statesman, with whom she lived in Cambria, Wisconsin. They had two children, David and Virginia. She lived as a housewife, but practiced music, acting, and painting as hobbies.
Rowlands later moved to California along with her daughter and son-in-law, actor John Cassavetes. Cassavetes began directing films, and cast Rowlands in three of his pictures. She adopted the screen-name "Lady Rowlands", a nickname given by her grandchildren. In Minnie and Moskowitz and A Woman Under the Influence, she played the mother of her real-life daughter. Her home was used for the filming of Faces and The Killing of a Chinese Bookie.
Aside from her work with Cassavetes, Rowlands also appeared in two television movies and had a role in the film Ted & Venus.
Her grandchildren, Nick Cassavetes, Alexandra Cassavetes, and Zoe Cassavetes, are all film directors.Filmography
