Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actor, with filmography included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed through a message by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero and my precious gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative and compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”
Beginnings and Rise to Fame
Ladd’s early career featured supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus humorous film Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she received a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”
That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern again. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for performances on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She continued to star with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and directed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Life
She happened to be a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.
