Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actor, whose credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared through a message by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was present as she died.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Her initial acting years included supporting roles on television series including Gunsmoke and the seventies had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she received a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. A year later she received a further nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to England for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern another time. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
