Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.
The star, with credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was revealed in a statement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films like Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career included small roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the 1970s featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The following year she received an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. 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.
Working with Laura Dern
She continued to star with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
She happened to be the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.