Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actor, whose roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was shared through a message from her offspring, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in various films such as Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was present as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
The start of her career featured supporting roles in television programs including The Fugitive while that decade had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she was given another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s included parts in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom again. That period also brought her TV award nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She was additionally a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration in my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like an injury, instead use it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.
