Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The star, with roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared through a message shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mom in various films such as Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career included minor parts in TV shows including Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received a further nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to England for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern once more. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and directed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck that included her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
