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The award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

This actress, with roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was shared through a message shared by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

The start of her career saw small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke while the 1970s featured her performing with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.

In the subsequent decade, she was given a further supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she was awarded a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to the UK for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

The nineties included parts in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother again. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.