🔗 Share this article Acclaimed Actress Diane Ladd, Known For Her Performance in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old. This Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89. This actress, with credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced through a message by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern. Dern, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films including Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero and my precious gift as a mother”, stating that she was present when she passed. “She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.” Beginnings and Rise to Fame Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles in TV shows including Gunsmoke and that decade featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. Later Decades In the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. During the next ten years, she was given a further supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern. “This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.” That decade included parts in humorous films The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother again. The decade also saw her score Emmy nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama. Working with Laura Dern She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama. Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon. Writing and Directing She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.” Family Ties She was additionally a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”. In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to another medical facility. “When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.