Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.
The star, whose credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced via an announcement shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies like Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw small roles on television series such as The Fugitive while that decade saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she received another best supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. The decade also saw her score Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Actually, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Personal Life
Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
