🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Known For Her Role in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89. The award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us 89 years old. This actor, whose filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared in a statement shared by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern. Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died. “She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.” Initial Roles and Rise to Fame The start of her career featured small roles in TV shows like Perry Mason while the 1970s saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown. In the same year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress. 1980s and Beyond During the eighties, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a comedy program based on her earlier movie. In the subsequent decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The following year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter. “This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.” That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score TV award nominations for performances on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel. Working with Laura Dern She continued to star with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s satirical show Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy. Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon. Writing and Directing Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck that included her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him on a project. Indeed, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.” Family Ties She was additionally the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”. In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a new hospital. “Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.