This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.
The star, with roles spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was announced through a message shared by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.
Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in various films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.
“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”
The start of her career featured supporting roles in television programs like The Fugitive whereas that decade featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.
That very year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.
Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The following year she received a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.
“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a party for us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”
The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother another time. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.
She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.
Her more recent television parts included the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.
She also authored and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred her and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”
She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.
In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.
“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.
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