Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at the Age of 89.
The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.
The star, whose roles spanned Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared via an announcement shared by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mom in various films like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero and my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Early Career and Major Success
Ladd’s early career featured minor parts on television series such as Perry Mason whereas the seventies featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a sitcom based on her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she received an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to England for a premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”
The nineties also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. The decade also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
She was additionally the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised 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 avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
