Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
The star, with credits included Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was announced in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero as well as my precious gift of a mother”, stating that she was present when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles on television series including Perry Mason whereas the seventies saw her starring next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she received an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured her daughter.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
The nineties included parts in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him on a project. Indeed, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence in my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
