Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
The actor, with roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was revealed in a statement by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies including Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was present when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke whereas that decade had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother once more. That period also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck featuring herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She was additionally the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
