Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
The star, with roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed via an announcement by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Ladd’s early career saw small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke whereas that decade had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a television series based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received a further supporting actress nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a party for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern another time. Those years also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
