Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us at the age of 89.
This actress, whose filmography featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced in a statement by her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in several movies including Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero as well as my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
The start of her career saw minor parts in TV shows including Perry Mason while the seventies featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she received an additional supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited us to England for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother once more. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work 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, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and directed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely once her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
