Diane Ladd

Diane Ladd, the three-time Oscar nominee whose raw, empathetic performances in films like "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore," "Wild at Heart," and "Rambling Rose" defined her as one of Hollywood's most resilient character actresses, died November 3 at her home in Ojai, California. She was 89. Her daughter, Laura Dern, was by her side when she passed.

Born Rose Diane Ladner on November 29, 1935, in Meridian, Mississippi, Ladd began acting in television guest roles in the 1950s and '60s, and joined the soap opera The Secret Storm in 1971. Her breakthrough came in 1974 when she played Flo, the brassy waitress in Martin Scorsese's "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore." Her performance earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a BAFTA Award. That same year, she appeared in Roman Polanski's "Chinatown," solidifying her reputation as an actress who could inhabit complex, memorable characters.

The success of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" spawned the television series "Alice," though Ladd appeared in the show as a different character, Belle Dupree, from 1980 to 1981. Her work on the series earned three Primetime Emmy nominations.

Ladd's artistic partnership with director David Lynch brought some of her most celebrated work. In 1990's "Wild at Heart," she played the unhinged Marietta Fortune opposite her daughter Laura Dern, delivering a performance that earned her second Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress and a Golden Globe nomination. The collaboration showcased Ladd's willingness to embrace darkness and vulnerability, traits that would define her later career.

Her most significant achievement came with 1991's "Rambling Rose," in which she starred alongside Laura Dern. Ladd earned her third Oscar nomination, this time for Best Actress, while her daughter received a Best Supporting Actress nod. They became the first mother-daughter pair nominated for the same film, a historic moment that reflected both their individual talents and their deep creative bond. Ladd continued working steadily through the decades, appearing in David O. Russell's "Joy" in 2015, where she played the mother of Jennifer Lawrence's character.

Beyond her film work, Ladd explored her life's journey in her 2011 autobiography, "Spiraling Through the School of Life: A Mental, Physical, and Spiritual Discovery." The book reflected her belief in transformation through pain. "If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are winning," she wrote. Her resilience was hard-won. Married to actor Bruce Dern from 1960 to 1969, Ladd had endured the devastating loss of their daughter Diane Elizabeth Dern, who died at 18 months old in 1962.

By the time she received her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2010, Ladd had redefined what it meant to age in Hollywood. As she told the New York Times: "I can do Shakespeare, Ibsen, English accents, Irish accents, no accent, stand on my head, tap dance, sing, look 17 or look 70."

Laura Dern remembered her mother as "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."

By Legacy News Staff

Photo by Ralph Dominguez/MediaPunch/IPX/Getty Images