Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
This Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.
The actor, whose roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who starred with her mom in a number of films including Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero and my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years included small roles in TV shows like The Fugitive and that decade saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a television series inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the following decade, she received another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”
That decade featured performances in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Writing and Directing
She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
