Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
This star, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed in a statement from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero and my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw supporting roles in TV shows including The Fugitive and the seventies had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a sitcom derived from her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she was given another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom another time. That period also earned her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck that included herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
