🔗 Share this article

The award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

This actor, with credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was shared through a message by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in various films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Major Success

Her initial acting years featured small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she received a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy The Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother again. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.