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The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

This actor, with roles spanned Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was revealed through a message from her child, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside during her final moments.

“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured minor parts in TV shows including Gunsmoke and that decade had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she earned an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The following year she received an additional nod for her performance in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern again. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She continued to star with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.