Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
This Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actress, with filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. The news was announced via an announcement by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the 1970s featured her performing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited us to the UK for a special screening and an event for us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health after her daughter moved her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
