Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.
This actor, with roles included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed via an announcement shared by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift being my mom”, writing that she was by her side as she died.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist as well as caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Major Success
Ladd’s early career featured supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason whereas that decade featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received an additional best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew Laura and I to London for a premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.