Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
This star, with filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared in a statement by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
The start of her career featured small roles in television programs like Gunsmoke and the 1970s had her appearing alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow as well as humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received an additional nod for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew Laura and I to London for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
That decade included parts in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother another time. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter moved her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead apply it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
