Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.

The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.

This actor, whose filmography featured Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years included minor parts in television programs like Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she was given another best supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.

“This was the film that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a special screening and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”

The nineties also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. The decade also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and directed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.