Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
This actor, with filmography featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message shared by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
The start of her career featured minor parts on television series including Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she earned an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she obtained another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to England for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck that included herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female ever to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
