Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
This actor, with roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed in a statement from her offspring, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films including Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist as well as caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
The start of her career featured small roles in television programs including Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the show 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 nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited us to London for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The nineties also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern again. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show 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 the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live but she regained full health once her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.