Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
The star, whose filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced through a message from her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies like Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present as she died.
“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Early Career and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career saw minor parts on television series such as Perry Mason whereas the 1970s saw her starring alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.
“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought Laura and I to England for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom another time. That period also earned her TV award nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She continued to star alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck featuring her and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“If you can take your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.