Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.
This actor, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. The news was shared through a message by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Ladd’s early career included small roles on television series such as Perry Mason whereas the seventies saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.
“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
That decade featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother another time. That period also earned her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact on 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 when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like an injury, rather utilize it to investigate, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.