Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
This actor, whose credits spanned Chinatown, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced in a statement shared by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films including Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was present as she died.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles in TV shows such as Perry Mason and the 1970s featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she earned a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
The 1990s featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. That period also saw her score TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She additionally penned and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.