Diane Ladd, Known For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.
The Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us aged 89.
This actress, whose filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared via an announcement by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.
Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero plus my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”
Initial Roles and Breakthrough
Ladd’s early career featured small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke while that decade had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.
In the same year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.
Subsequent Years
During the eighties, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
During the next ten years, she earned a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she was awarded a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.
“This was the film which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”
That decade included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern another time. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
Partnerships with Her Daughter
She persisted in performing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.
Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
Filmmaking Ventures
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”
Personal Connections
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration in my life”.
Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.
