🔗 Share this article

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

The actor, whose credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed in a statement by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

The start of her career saw minor parts in TV shows including The Fugitive while the 1970s saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the show Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose which included her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought us to London for a special screening and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother once more. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring her and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She was additionally the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.

In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.