Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.
This star, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed in a statement by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included small roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the seventies saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a sitcom derived from her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she received an additional supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom again. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a relative of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.
