Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.
The star, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was shared in a statement shared by her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative and compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Her initial acting years included small roles on television series including Perry Mason whereas the seventies saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow as well as humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she was given an additional supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother another time. The decade also saw her score TV award nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
