Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
This Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.
The actor, whose filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was shared via an announcement from her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in a number of films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful 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 empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Early Career and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured minor parts in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.
“This was the film that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a party in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
That decade featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern another time. Those years also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Collaborations with Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and directed the comedy Mrs Munck that included herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She happened to be the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration in my life”.
During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
