Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old.

The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us at the age of 89.

The actress, with credits included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared in a statement shared by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years saw minor parts in TV shows like The Fugitive while the 1970s had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she received an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she received a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose which included Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to London for a premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

The nineties featured performances in the comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother another time. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.