🔗 Share this article

The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away aged 89.

This star, whose filmography included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was announced in a statement shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

The start of her career included supporting roles in television programs such as Perry Mason and the 1970s featured her performing with Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given another best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

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

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ 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”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.