🔗 Share this article Diane Ladd, Celebrated For Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Has Died at 89 Years Old. The award-nominated actress Diane Ladd has died 89 years old. This star, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed via an announcement by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern. Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift as a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died. “She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.” Early Career and Rise to Fame The start of her career included minor parts in TV shows such as The Fugitive and that decade featured her performing with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown. That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category. Later Decades Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a comedy program derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Laura Dern. “This movie that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to London for a special screening and a party for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.” That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Dern’s mother another time. That period also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel. Collaborations with Daughter She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy. Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon. Behind the Camera Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.” Personal Connections She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact on my life”. Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility. “When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.