Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.
This star, whose filmography spanned Chinatown, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was announced through a message from her daughter, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero and my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was present during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years featured minor parts in TV shows like Perry Mason while the 1970s had her appearing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she earned an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child the character played by Dern. A year later she received another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to London for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother once more. The decade also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck, a film that included her and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
