This Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.
This actor, with roles included Chinatown, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed in a statement shared by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Her daughter, who appeared with Diane Ladd in several movies including Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.
“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”
The start of her career saw small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke and the seventies saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.
In the following decade, she earned an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.
“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to the UK for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”
That decade included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.
She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.
She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”
Ladd was also a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.
In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.
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