Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.
The actress, with filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared through a message shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero and my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was by her side during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative along with caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
The start of her career featured small roles in TV shows including Perry Mason whereas the seventies saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she received another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited us to London for a special screening and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties included parts in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern once more. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Indeed, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely once her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
