Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us at the age of 89.
This actress, with credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. This announcement was shared in a statement from her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
The start of her career included supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason while the 1970s had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow plus funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she received another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to the UK for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern another time. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
