Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.
The star, whose credits included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed through a message by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Her initial acting years saw small roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke while that decade saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she received another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”
The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as 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 and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, 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 and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Writing and Directing
Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.
During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead apply it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
