Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.
This actress, with filmography included Chinatown, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared through a message by her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
Ladd’s early career featured supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason while that decade had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.
“This was the film that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to England for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. The decade also brought her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring her and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once 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 explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
