Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.
This star, with filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed in a statement from her offspring, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career included supporting roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke while the seventies saw her starring next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The following year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which included her daughter.
“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom another time. The decade also brought her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Connections
She was additionally a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.
