Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
This Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
This actor, whose roles featured Chinatown, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared via an announcement from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mother in several movies such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
The start of her career featured small roles on television series like The Fugitive whereas the 1970s had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew us to London for a special screening and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
The 1990s included parts in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom again. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
