Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
This actor, whose roles included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared in a statement shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in various films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my profound gift being my mom”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows including Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she received a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought us to London for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Indeed, I am the sole female in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.