Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at 89 Years Old.

The Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

This actress, whose filmography featured Chinatown, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed in a statement from her offspring, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Dern, who appeared with her mother in several movies such as Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was present during her final moments.

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

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career included supporting roles in television programs like Perry Mason while that decade had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The nineties also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. Those years also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and told she had just six months to live but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.