Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.
The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us at the age of 89.
The actress, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side during her final moments.
“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw small roles in TV shows such as Perry Mason and the 1970s had her appearing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
In the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she earned an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received an additional nod for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.
“This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought us to London for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”
That decade featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern once more. Those years also saw her score Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Subsequent TV appearances featured the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
Behind the Camera
Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Family Ties
Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.
“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.
