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This Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.

This star, with filmography included Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared via an announcement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Early Career and Major Success

Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles on television series including The Fugitive and the seventies saw her starring alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured her daughter.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to the UK for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The nineties also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. Those years also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.