Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actress, whose roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was announced through a message by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films including Wild at Heart, called her “my incredible hero and my profound gift as a mother”, noting that she was present as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw supporting roles on television series including The Fugitive and the seventies featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she was given an additional best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Laura Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought us to the UK for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. The decade also earned her TV award nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.