🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Famed For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at Age 89. This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd passed away aged 89. The actress, whose credits spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in Ojai, California. The news was revealed via an announcement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter. Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films including Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero and my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed. “She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.” Initial Roles and Major Success Her initial acting years included small roles in TV shows like Perry Mason while that decade saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown. During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category. Subsequent Years In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. In the subsequent decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she received a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern. “This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to England for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.” The nineties also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern once more. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama. Working with Laura Dern She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy. Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon. Writing and Directing She also authored and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.” Personal Life She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”. In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital. “If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.