Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.
The actor, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was shared through a message by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in various films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured supporting roles in TV shows like The Fugitive and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given another supporting actress nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to England for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s 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 work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She additionally penned and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I’m the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.
Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised 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 avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.