When Diane Ladd passed away on November 3, 2025, at the age of 89, she left behind an incredible body of work that includes classic movies such as Chinatown and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation , as well as memorable parts in the TV series Alice and Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman . Her career lasted more than 60 years, during which she was considered for several awards, including three Primetime Emmys and three Oscars . But she almost didn’t take one of those Oscar-nominated roles, because of the man who was directing the film: David Lynch .

Lynch wanted Ladd to play Marietta Fortune in Wild at Heart , his 1990 adaptation of the Barry Gifford novel by the same name. The director picked Ladd for the part for an obvious reason. Marietta Fortune is the mother of Lula, one t

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