Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.
The star, with roles included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared through a message from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mom in various films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included minor parts in television programs such as The Fugitive while the seventies saw her starring next to Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to London for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern another time. That period also earned her TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
