Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89.
This award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.
The actress, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was announced through a message by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films including Wild at Heart, called her “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, stating that she was present when she passed.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured small roles on television series such as Gunsmoke whereas the 1970s featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received an additional nod for her performance in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
The 1990s featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern another time. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
