Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
This award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
The actor, whose roles included Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed via an announcement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw small roles on television series like Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which included her daughter.
“This movie that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The nineties also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again 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 the mother of Dern once more. The decade also earned her TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence in my life”.
Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
