Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The actress, whose filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was revealed via an announcement by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in various films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career included minor parts in television programs such as The Fugitive and the seventies featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned another supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.
“This movie that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew me and Laura to London for a premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”
The 1990s included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern once more. That period also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence throughout my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead apply it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
