Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actress, whose credits featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced via an announcement shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mom in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero as well as my profound gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years saw supporting roles in TV shows including Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus humorous film Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she received an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought us to England for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom again. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.