Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away aged 89.
This actor, whose roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared via an announcement from her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
The start of her career saw minor parts on television series like The Fugitive while the 1970s saw her starring next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she received an additional best supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child the character played by Dern. The following year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to the UK for a special screening and an event for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom again. Those years also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health after her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
