🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Dies at the Age of 89. The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old. The actor, with filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. The news was shared in a statement from her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern. Dern, who starred with her mother in various films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments. “She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.” Beginnings and Rise to Fame Her initial acting years included minor parts in television programs including Perry Mason whereas that decade 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 the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress. Later Decades Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. In the subsequent decade, she received another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received an additional nod for her performance in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern. “This movie that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a party for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.” The nineties included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern again. The decade also saw her score Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel. Collaborations with Daughter She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama. Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon. Writing and Directing She also authored and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.” Personal Life She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”. Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital. “Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.