Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.
This actor, with credits featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced in a statement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in several movies including Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was present when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career saw minor parts on television series including Perry Mason whereas the 1970s featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to London for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The nineties included parts in the comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. Those years also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
