Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.

The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.

The star, whose roles spanned Chinatown, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was shared through a message from her child, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with her mother in several movies including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

The start of her career included supporting roles in television programs like Perry Mason and the 1970s featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mom of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought us to the UK for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, rather utilize it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.