Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.
This actress, with filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed through a message from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mother in several movies such as Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero and my profound gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Her initial acting years featured supporting roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
The nineties also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom once more. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter moved her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
