Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.
This actress, with credits included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was shared via an announcement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films including Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw small roles on television series like Perry Mason while the seventies had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a comedy program inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received an additional supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The following year she received an additional nod for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This movie that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew Laura and I to England for a special screening and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern again. Those years also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck that included her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
