Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
This Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
The star, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was revealed in a statement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift being my mom”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Major Success
Ladd’s early career included minor parts in TV shows such as The Fugitive while that decade featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she earned another best supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to London for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also brought her TV award nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened. She additionally starred with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She was additionally a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.
