Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
This actor, whose roles included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared via an announcement shared by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero and my precious gift of a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career included supporting roles in TV shows including Perry Mason while the seventies had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she was awarded another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. Those years also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and directed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and informed she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.
