Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
The actor, with credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed in a statement from her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside her mother in several movies including Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present as she died.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years featured minor parts on television series including Perry Mason and that decade featured her performing with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she was given another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
That decade also saw roles in the comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern another time. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She additionally starred next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring her and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and informed she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.
