Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.
The actress, whose filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was announced via an announcement shared by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Dern, who performed alongside her mother in several movies including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included minor parts in TV shows such as The Fugitive while the seventies had her appearing alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she was given a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mother of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Laura Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
That decade featured performances in the comedy The Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother once more. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and informed she had just six months to live but made a full recovery after her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
