Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
The star, with filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was revealed via an announcement by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in various films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
The start of her career featured minor parts on television series such as The Fugitive and that decade had her appearing with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
The 1990s featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother another time. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Indeed, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.
During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.