R.I.P. Diane Ladd, Oscar nominated actor and mother of Laura Dern
Ladd is known for her roles in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, Chinatown, and many others.
Photo: Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images
Diane Ladd, the Oscar and Emmy nominated actor known for roles in films such as Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and Wild At Heart, has died. Her daughter, Laura Dern, shared the news in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter, writing, “My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Ca. She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created. We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.” Ladd was 89.
Ladd was born in Mississippi in 1935. While she was offered a scholarship to study law at LSU, she decided to pursue acting instead. Her early career included a number of theatrical roles, including an off-Broadway production of her second cousin Tennessee Williams’ Orpheus Descending in 1958. It was during this play that she met fellow castmate Bruce Dern, whom she would go on to marry two years later. (The two separated in 1969.) Around this time, she also began appearing in television series, including Naked City, 77 Sunset Strip, Hazel, The Detectives, The Fugitive, Ironside, Perry Mason, and Then Came Bronson, as well as a few films. It wasn’t until 1974, however, that she really broke into the film scene, with roles in both Roman Polanski’s Chinatown (portraying Ida Sessions) and Martin Scorsese‘s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. It was her comedic turn as waitress Flo Castleberry in the latter film that earned Ladd her first Oscar nod, as well as a BAFTA for Best Actress In A Supporting Role. The film also served as her daughter Laura Dern’s acting debut; she can be seen eating an ice cream cone in one of the film’s final scenes at the age of seven.
