Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
This actress, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced via an announcement from her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Dern, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films including Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero and my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years saw small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke and the seventies saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to the UK for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.
During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery after her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
