Diane Ladd, the three-time Academy Award nominee whose roles ranged from the brash waitress in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore to the protective mother in Wild at Heart, has died at 89. Ladd's death was announced Monday by daughter Laura Dern, who issued a statement saying her mother and occasional co-star had died at her home in Ojai, California, with Dern at her side.
Dern, who called Ladd her "amazing hero" and "profound gift of a mother," did not immediately cite a cause of death."She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created," Dern wrote. "We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now." Get breaking National news For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen. Sign up for breaking National newsletter Sign Up By providing your email address, you have read and agree to Global News' Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy. A gifted comic and dramatic performer, Ladd had a long career in television and on stage before breaking through as a film performer in Martin Scorsese's 1974 release Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Story continues below advertisement She earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for her turn as the acerbic, straight-talking Flo, and went on to appear in dozens of movies over the following decades.
Her many credits included Chinatown, Primary Colors and two other movies for which she received best supporting nods, Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, both of which co-starred her daughter.
She also continued to work in television, with appearances in ER, Touched by Angel and Alice, the spinoff from Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, among others. Trending Now Ahead of budget, Canadians want cost of living help, not deficits: poll FDA's top drug regulator resigns after federal officials probe 'serious concerns' More on Entertainment More videos Justin Baldoni's $400M lawsuit against Blake Lively officially dismissed Rock and roll legends AC/DC coming to 4 Canadian cities in summer of 2026 The future of AI and music is coming into focus. It does not look good for human artists Saskatoon celebrates Halloween 2025 with trick-or-treating, donations Millie Bobby Brown reportedly accuses 'Stranger Things' co-star David Harbour of harassment TurHamKen: New sandwich from Subway combines all your festive favourites Minute at the Movies: Oct. 31, 2025 Y&R is back in full gear for season 53 Through marriage and blood relations, Ladd was tied to the arts. Tennessee Williams was a second cousin and first husband Bruce Dern, Laura's father, was himself an Academy Award nominee. Ladd and Laura Dern achieved the rare feat of mother-and-daughter nominees for their work in Rambling Rose.A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Ladd was apparently destined to stand out. In her 2006 memoir, Spiraling Through the School of Life, she remembered being told by her great-grandmother that she would one day in "front of a screen" and would "command" her own audiences.
By the mid-1970s, she had lived out her fate well enough to tell The New York Times that no longer denied herself the right to call herself great."Now I don't say that," she said. "I can do Shakespeare, Ibsen, English accents, Irish accents, no accent, stand on my head, tap dance, sing, look 17 or look 70." Advertisement