Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old.

This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

The star, with credits featured Chinatown, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was announced via an announcement by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who appeared with her mother in various films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my profound gift being my mom”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles on television series like The Fugitive and that decade featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew us to England for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

That decade featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom another time. That period also earned her TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

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

Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and informed she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.