Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
The star, whose credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced through a message by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films like Rambling Rose, called her “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist along with caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years saw small roles in TV shows including The Fugitive while that decade featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she was awarded a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother once more. The decade also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances featured the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and informed she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
