Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
This actress, with credits included Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed in a statement by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who starred with her mother in various films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Ladd’s early career saw small roles in TV shows including Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she received another best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. The decade also earned her TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him on a project. Indeed, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
