Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
This star, with credits featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed through a message shared by her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
The start of her career saw minor parts on television series like The Fugitive and that decade featured her performing with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose which included her daughter.
“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to England for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Dern’s mother again. That period also earned her Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.