Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The actor, with filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was announced in a statement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
The start of her career featured supporting roles in TV shows like The Fugitive and that decade saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew me and Laura to England for a premiere and a party for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
That decade featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom another time. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like an injury, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
