Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.
This actor, with filmography included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was announced through a message from her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career included small roles in television programs such as Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received an additional supporting actress nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.
“This was the film that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The nineties included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. Those years also saw her score Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
