Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.
The actress, whose filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared through a message from her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in various films including Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero and my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Her initial acting years included small roles on television series like Perry Mason while the seventies saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she earned a further supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured her daughter.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film which starred her and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
