🔗 Share this article

The Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.

The actress, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was announced through a message by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in several movies including Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, noting that she was present when she passed.

“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured small roles in television programs including Gunsmoke whereas that decade had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the parent of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother once more. That period also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She kept appearing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened. She was also seen with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her more recent television parts featured the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Actually, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Life

She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.