🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old. The award-nominated performer Diane Ladd left us aged 89. This actress, with filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. This announcement was announced through a message by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter. Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero as well as my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments. “She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.” Initial Roles and Rise to Fame Ladd’s early career included supporting roles in television programs like The Fugitive while that decade saw her starring next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown. During that year, the year 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category. 1980s and Beyond In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a television series based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. In the following decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern. “This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited us to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, with tears, watching us perform.” The 1990s also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. That period also earned her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel. Partnerships with Her Daughter She kept appearing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy. Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon. Writing and Directing Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.” Personal Connections Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”. Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter moved her to a different hospital. “If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.