Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
This actress, with filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced in a statement by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films such as Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero and my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke and the seventies had her appearing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she received another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included her daughter.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Indeed, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
She was additionally the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
