We have sad news to report out of Hollywood today:
Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actress and mother of Laura Dern, has passed away at the age of 89.
News of Ladd’s passing comes courtesy of a statement from her daughter:
“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, California,” Laura Dern said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.
“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.”
Born Rose Diane Ladner in Laurel, Mississippi on November 29, 1935, Ladd was the only child of veterinarian Preston Paul Ladner and actress/housewife Mary Bernadette Ladner.
A second cousin of legendary playwright Tennessee Williams, Ladd married fellow actor Bruce Dern in 1960.
She landed a steady stream of television work throughout the sixties, but it wasn’t until 1973 that she scored her breakout role.
That was the year when a young Martin Scorsese cast Ladd as Flo, the brassy southern waitress in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
“Kiss me where the sun don’t shine,” and “I could lay under you, eat fried chicken and do a crossword puzzle at the same time, that’s how much you bother me” were just two of the many quotable lines of dialogue Ladd delivered in the surprise hit.
The film received rave reviews and earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination.
“The movie’s filled with brilliantly done individual scenes,” Roger Ebert wrote in his review (per The Hollywood Reporter).
“Alice, for example, has a run-in with a fellow waitress with an inspired vocabulary [Ladd]. They fall into a friendship and have a frank and honest conversation one day while sunbathing. The scene works perfectly.”
Alice went on to spawn a long-running TV sitcom, but Ladd was on to bigger and better things.
She went on to score two more Oscar nominations, for her work in Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose.
Diane’s only other child died at the age of 18 months, and in her later years, she was almost as famous for her close relationship with Laura as she was for her acting.
Our thoughts go out to Diane Ladd’s loved ones as they mourn the loss of a screen legend who was said to be a world-class mother and grandmother.