Oscar-Nominated Star Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at the Age of 89.
This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.
The actress, with filmography featured Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was shared through a message shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in various films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, stating that she was present during her final moments.
“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Initial Roles and Major Success
Ladd’s early career included small roles in television programs such as Perry Mason whereas the seventies had her appearing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Later Decades
In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.
In the subsequent decade, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to the UK for a special screening and an event for us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”
That decade featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern again. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.
Collaborations with Daughter
She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.
Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She additionally penned and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.
In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
