OJAI, Calif. (AP) — Diane Ladd, a three-time Academy Award nominee and actor of rare timing and intensity whose roles ranged from the brash waitress in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” to the scheming parent 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.
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FILE - Actress Diane Ladd, who stars in the Showtime movie, "Mrs. Munck, " is shown in Los Angeles, Jan. 8, 1996. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - Ellery Harper, from left, Jaya Harper, Diane Ladd, and Laura Dern arrive at the Oscars Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Diane Ladd speaks at the 29th American Cinematheque Awards, which honored Reese Witherspoon, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Oct. 30, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Actress Diane Ladd poses after she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Diane Ladd attends the 2016 Summer TCA "Hallmark Event" July 27, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
“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.”
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.” She earned an Oscar nomination for supporting actor for her turn as the acerbic, straight-talking Flo, and went on to appears 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.
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” and they also were memorably paired in “Wild at Heart,” a personal favorite of Ladd's and winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. In the dark, farcical David Lynch noir, her character, Marietta, is willing to try anything — including murder — to keep her daughter (Laura Dern) away from her ex-con lover, played by Nicolas Cage. Ladd would be called upon by the director for some Lynchian touches, and countered with some of her own.
“One day, the script said that Marietta gets in bed, curls up with her baby dog, and is sucking her thumb,” she told Vulture in 2024. “I looked at him and said, ‘David, I don’t want to do that.” He said, ’What do you want to do? I said, 'I want to put on a long satin nightgown, I want to stand in the middle of the bed holding a martini and drinking it, and I want to sway to the old music within my head.' He said OK, I did it, and he loved it.”
A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Ladd was born Rose Diane Ladner and 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. Before “Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,” she had been working in television since the 1950s, when she was in her early 20s, with shows including “Perry Mason,” “Gunsmoke” and “The Big Valley.”
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.”
Ladd was married three times, and divorced twice — from Bruce Dern and from William A. Shea, Jr. In 1976, around the time her second marriage ended, she told the Times that neither of her husbands knew “how to show love.”
“I come from the South and from a man, my father, who gave me rocking‐chair love. My people pass love around, and why I selected two men who needed someone to give love and didn’t know how to give it. ...” She paused. “I hope I won’t repeat that again.”
Ladd's third marriage, to author-former PepsiCo executive Robert Charles Hunter, lasted from 1999 until his death in August.
Associated Press film writer Lindsey Bahr contributed to this story.
FILE - Actress Diane Ladd, who stars in the Showtime movie, "Mrs. Munck, " is shown in Los Angeles, Jan. 8, 1996. (AP Photo/Reed Saxon, File)
FILE - Ellery Harper, from left, Jaya Harper, Diane Ladd, and Laura Dern arrive at the Oscars Feb. 9, 2020, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Diane Ladd speaks at the 29th American Cinematheque Awards, which honored Reese Witherspoon, at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza Oct. 30, 2015, in Los Angeles. (Photo by John Salangsang/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Actress Diane Ladd poses after she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles, Nov. 1, 2010. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles, File)
FILE - Diane Ladd attends the 2016 Summer TCA "Hallmark Event" July 27, 2016, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP, File)
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. military leaders said Tuesday that a ceasefire with Iran remains in effect a day after Tehran was blamed for new attacks in the Strait of Hormuz and against the United Arab Emirates.
The fragile truce, reached nearly a month ago, appeared to be holding as U.S. forces pressed ahead with efforts to reopen the vital waterway for global energy. On Monday, the U.S. said it sank six small Iranian boats that had threatened commercial ships.
So far, only two merchant ships are known to have passed through a new U.S.-guarded route, with hundreds more bottled up in the Persian Gulf. It's unclear whether continued U.S. military action will reassure shippers without reigniting the conflict that began with U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran on Feb. 28.
The UAE, a key American ally, said it came under attack by Iranian missiles and drones for a second straight day on Tuesday. At least three people were wounded in attacks the day before, and a drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility in the eastern emirate of Fujairah.
Iran’s effective closure of the strait, through which major oil and gas supplies passed before the war, along with fertilizer and other petroleum-derived products, has sent fuel prices skyrocketing and rattled the global economy. Breaking Iran's grip would deny its main source of leverage as U.S. President Donald Trump demands a major rollback of its disputed nuclear program.
U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Gen. Dan Caine, the U.S. military’s top officer, told a news conference Tuesday that Iran’s renewed aggression hadn’t reached the threshold of what Caine called “major combat operations.” He said Tuesday marked a “quieter” day in the strait.
“No, the ceasefire is not over,” Hegseth said, affirming Caine’s assessment. They spoke before the latest attacks on the UAE.
Iran has said the new effort does violate the ceasefire. Iran’s parliament speaker and chief negotiator, Mohammad Bagher Qalibaf, accused the U.S. of undermining regional security. In a post on X, he signaled that Iran has yet to fully respond to the U.S. attempt to reopen the waterway.
“We know full well that the continuation of the status quo is intolerable for America; while we have not even begun yet,” he said. His statement did not mention negotiations with the U.S. that are now in the form of passing messages via Pakistan.
Disputing Washington’s claim of sinking six boats, an Iranian military commander said two small civilian cargo boats were hit on Monday, killing five civilians, Iran’s state TV reported.
Caine, the top U.S. general who serves as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said more than 100 U.S. military aircraft are patrolling skies around the strait.
“Since the ceasefire was announced, Iran has fired at commercial vessels nine times and seized two container ships, and they’ve attacked U.S. forces more than 10 times – all below the threshold of restarting major combat operations at this point,” Caine said.
The administration has cited the April 8 ceasefire in asserting that the president does not have to give a formal update to Congress on the war under the War Powers Resolution. That law typically requires presidents to seek formal approval from Congress for war activities 60 days after beginning military action.
So far, just two civilian vessels, both U.S.-flagged merchant ships, are known to have passed through the strait as part of the lane the U.S. says it has created.
“At this point in time our risk assessment remains unchanged,” Hamburg, Germany-based shipping company Hapag-Lloyd AG said in a statement. “Transits through the Strait of Hormuz are for the moment not possible for our ships.”
Ship tracking data showed a Panamanian-flagged crude oil tanker heading toward the center of the strait Tuesday after leaving an anchorage in the Persian Gulf, though it was unclear if it would try to pass through. The tanker had a stated destination of Singapore, according to the MarineTraffic ship tracking site.
Iran has attacked ships that try to transit without going through its own route in the northern part of the narrow strait near the Iranian coastline. That involves going through vetting by Iran's Revolutionary Guard and payment in some cases.
The U.S.-approved “Project Freedom” route goes through territorial waters of Oman to the south.
“For shipping companies and for insurance companies, they still have to wait and see how this plays out,” said Torbjorn Soltvedt, principal Middle East analyst at risk intelligence company Verisk Maplecroft.
“This initiative alone isn’t something that looks like it’s going to open the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.
The United Arab Emirates said its air defenses had engaged 15 missiles and four drones fired by Iran. Authorities in the eastern emirate of Fujairah said one drone sparked a fire at a key oil facility, wounding three Indian nationals. The British military reported two cargo vessels ablaze off the UAE, also on Monday.
On Tuesday, the UAE's Defense Ministry said air defenses were responding to another Iranian drone and missile attack.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday condemned the attacks, calling the targeting of civilians and infrastructure “unacceptable.” On X, Modi said India stands in “firm solidarity” with the UAE, and stressed the need for safe and uninterrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz.
Tehran did not confirm or deny the attacks but Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi early Tuesday said on X that both the U.S. and the UAE “should be wary of being dragged back into quagmire.”
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia condemned the strikes against the UAE. The Saudi condemnation came despite increasingly strained relations with the UAE.
The disruption of the waterway has squeezed countries in Europe and Asia that depend on Persian Gulf oil and gas, raising prices far beyond the region.
The U.S. meanwhile has enforced a naval blockade on Iranian ports since April 13, telling at least 49 commercial ships to turn back, according to its Central Command. It also has warned shipping companies they could face sanctions if they pay Iran for transit of the strait.
The blockade has deprived Tehran of oil revenue it needs to shore up its ailing economy. U.S. officials have expressed hope the blockade will force Iran to make concessions in talks on its nuclear program and other longstanding issues.
Finley reported from Washington and Becatoros reported from Athens, Greece. Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut, Lebanon; Sheikh Saaliq in New Delhi; Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; and Russ Bynum in Savannah, Georgia, contributed to this report.
Pro-government demonstrators chant slogans as one of them holds a poster of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei during their gathering at Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Israeli soldiers drive a tank inside a village in southern Lebanon, as seen from northern Israel, Tuesday, May 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
An Iranian demonstrator waves a flag of Lebanon's militant Hezbollah group under an anti-U.S. billboard depicting the American aircrafts into the Iranian armed forces fishing net with signs that read in Farsi: "The Strait of Hormuz will remain closed, The entire Persian Gulf is our hunting ground," during a pro-government gathering at Enqelab-e-Eslami, or Islamic Revolution, square in Tehran, Iran, Monday, May 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A bulk cargo ship sits at anchor in the Strait of Hormuz off Bandar Abbas, Iran, Saturday, May 2, 2026.(Amirhosein Khorgooi/ISNA via AP)
