Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
This actress, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared in a statement by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included minor parts on television series like Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she received another best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her biological child the character played by Dern. The following year she received another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited us to the UK for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The 1990s included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. Those years also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.