Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
The star, whose credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. The news was shared through a message from her child, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films including Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured minor parts in TV shows including Gunsmoke whereas that decade featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received another best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she obtained another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother once more. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Indeed, I’m the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
