Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
The actor, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed through a message shared by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who appeared with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
The start of her career featured minor parts on television series like The Fugitive while the 1970s had her appearing alongside Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she was given another supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also brought her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
She happened to be a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
