Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at Age 89.
The Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.
The star, with roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared in a statement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years featured small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke and the 1970s saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she received another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. Those years also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration on my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and informed she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
