Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
This Oscar-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
This actress, whose roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films like Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Her initial acting years included small roles in television programs such as Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to England for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother again. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins 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, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and directed the comedy Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. In fact, I’m the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
