🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Famed For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Passes Away at 89 Years Old. The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away at the age of 89. The actress, whose roles spanned Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was revealed through a message shared by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern. Laura Dern, who starred with her mom in a number of films like Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside during her final moments. “She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.” Early Career and Rise to Fame Ladd’s early career included minor parts on television series like Gunsmoke and the seventies saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown. In the same year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Later Decades In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie. During the next ten years, she earned a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern. “This was the film that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited us to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and crying, seeing us act.” The 1990s featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel. Partnerships with Her Daughter She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy. Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy. Behind the Camera Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.” Personal Life She happened to be a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”. During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital. “When you use your pain and not let it back up like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd said.