Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.
The actress, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was announced through a message by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who appeared with her mother in various films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero and my profound gift being my mom”, noting that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included minor parts in TV shows such as Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The following year she obtained another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a party for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern another time. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration on my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
