Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.
This actress, whose filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared in a statement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.
Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.
“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Her initial acting years included supporting roles on television series like Gunsmoke and the seventies had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Subsequent Years
In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she received a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This was the film that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She also authored and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.
“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.
