Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.
The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.
The actress, with roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared via an announcement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in various films including Wild at Heart, called her “my incredible hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, stating that she was present when she passed.
“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Beginnings and Breakthrough
Her initial acting years included small roles in television programs like Gunsmoke while that decade saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.
Later Decades
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a television series derived from 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 Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she received another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.
“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to England for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”
The 1990s featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother again. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
Family Ties
She was additionally a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration on my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd said.
