Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.
The actress, whose filmography spanned Chinatown, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced in a statement by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who starred with her mother in several movies such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist as well as caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
The start of her career included supporting roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program based on her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to the UK for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
That decade included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and informed she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
