Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.
This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.
The star, with filmography included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was shared via an announcement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies including Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, writing 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 seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
The start of her career saw small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke while that decade had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.
1980s and Beyond
Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the show Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.
During the next ten years, she earned another supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”
The nineties featured performances in the comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother again. Those years also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.
Working with Laura Dern
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She also appeared with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence throughout my life”.
During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter moved 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 make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.