Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89.
This star, with filmography featured Chinatown, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed through a message from her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero and my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Rise to Fame
The start of her career featured small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
During the eighties, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The following year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew me and Laura to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. In fact, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
She was additionally a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
