Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actor, whose roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was announced via an announcement from her daughter, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured minor parts on television series such as Perry Mason while that decade had her appearing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.
“This movie that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to England for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother again. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Indeed, 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.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She was additionally a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration on my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
