Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The actor, whose credits featured Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was shared in a statement from her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
Her initial acting years featured small roles on television series including Perry Mason while the 1970s featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she appeared in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to England for a royal premiere and a party for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The nineties featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother again. Those years also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, 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, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
