Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.
This actress, whose roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared in a statement shared by her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who starred with her mom in several movies including Wild at Heart, called her “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was present during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career included small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the seventies had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she was given an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Dern.
“This was the film that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to the UK for a royal premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern another time. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
