Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.
This actress, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. This announcement was revealed through a message from her child, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
Her initial acting years saw small roles on television series like The Fugitive and the seventies had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she obtained an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a special screening and a party in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances featured the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I am the sole female ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact on my life”.
During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
