Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.
This star, whose credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. The news was revealed via an announcement shared by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in various films like Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career featured small roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother another time. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s satirical show Enlightened. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
She additionally penned and directed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Indeed, I am the sole female ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She happened to be 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 her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
