Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at Age 89.

This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

The actress, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was shared via an announcement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in various films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Rise to Fame

The start of her career included small roles on television series including Gunsmoke while the seventies featured her performing with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow and humorous film Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a television series inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she received another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

The nineties also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for performances on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

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

Writing and Directing

She also authored and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a new 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 succeeding,” Ladd expressed.