Diane Ladd Dies at 89: Legendary Actress of 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' 'Wild at Heart,' and 'Rambling Rose'
Diane Ladd, the acclaimed actress celebrated for her fiery and versatile performances in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose, passed away Monday at the age of 89. Her daughter, Laura Dern, announced the news, saying, “My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, California. She is flying with her angels now.”
Diane Ladd, Oscar-nominated actress from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose, dies at 89 in Ojai, California.
Curt Gunther/TV Guide, via Everett Collection
Born Rose Diane Lanier on November 29, 1935, in Meridian, Mississippi, Ladd grew up the daughter of a veterinarian father and a gracious mother named Mary. After graduating high school at 16, she attended finishing school in New Orleans and performed with the jazz band Dixie Hi De Ho Jo. Though offered a law scholarship at LSU, she pursued acting, performing in a production of Room Service at New Orleans’ Gallery Circle Theater.
Early in her career, John Carradine cast her in his national touring production of Tobacco Road, leading her to New York City, where she danced as a Copa Girl at the Copacabana nightclub. Ladd’s stage career included Broadway appearances in Carry Me Back to Morningside Heights and national tours alongside Robert De Niro, Jane Fonda, and Ben Gazzara.
Ladd’s breakout film role came in Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), where she portrayed Flo, the bold and sassy waitress whose witty lines and improvised moments left audiences laughing. Roger Ebert praised the film’s standout scenes, noting Ladd’s inspired performance. Her talent for improvisation became a hallmark of her career, later earning her the role of Marietta Fortune in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990), a domineering and emotionally complex character.
Collaborating once again with her daughter in Martha Coolidge’s Rambling Rose (1991), Ladd earned her third Academy Award nomination for portraying a caring matriarch guiding a troubled young servant. Ladd’s earlier Oscar nominations included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1975) and Wild at Heart (1991), losing to Ingrid Bergman, Whoopi Goldberg, and Mercedes Ruehl in respective years.
Ladd appeared in numerous television series, including The Detectives, 77 Sunset Strip, Perry Mason, and Hazel, and made her film debut in The Wild Angels (1966). Notable film credits include Chinatown (1974), Something Wicked This Way Comes (1983), Black Widow (1987), National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), 28 Days (2000), and Joy (2015). She also directed and starred in Mrs. Munck (1995).
Ladd received Emmy nominations for guest roles on Grace Under Fire, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, and Touched by an Angel. She starred as the matriarch of the O’Brien family on Hallmark Channel’s Chesapeake Shores and worked with Laura Dern in multiple projects, including Enlightened, Citizen Ruth, Daddy and Them, and Inland Empire.
Her personal life included marriages to Bruce Dern (1960–1969), businessman William Shea Jr. (1973–1976), and PepsiCo executive Robert Charles Hunter (1999–2025). Ladd and Bruce Dern had two daughters, Laura and Diane Elizabeth, the latter passing away at 18 months. Diane Ladd also leaves behind grandchildren Ellery and Jaya.
As a longtime SAG board member, she received the Ralph Morgan Award for outstanding service, reflecting her dedication to the entertainment community. Bruce Dern reflected, “Diane was a tremendous actress… a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter.”
