Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died aged 89.
The actress, whose filmography included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was revealed via an announcement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who appeared with her mother in several movies such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift as a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years saw small roles on television series like Perry Mason while the seventies saw her starring alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.
“This was the film that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like an injury, rather utilize it to discover, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
