Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.
This actress, with roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced through a message from her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
The start of her career featured small roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive while the seventies saw her starring next to Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow as well as humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she was given a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she received a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
The nineties included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, rather utilize it to discover, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
