Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The star, with filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was shared through a message by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who starred with her mother in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career included supporting roles on television series including The Fugitive while the 1970s saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the show Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
That decade included parts in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern once more. The decade also brought her Emmy nominations for performances on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
