Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.
The star, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed via an announcement shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in various films such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured small roles on television series like The Fugitive and that decade had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she was given an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a party for us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. That period also saw her score TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely once her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
