Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
This actor, with credits featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed through a message by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist and empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
The start of her career included supporting roles on television series such as Perry Mason while the seventies saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she was given another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the film that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom another time. Those years also saw her score Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.