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This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd left us aged 89.

This actress, whose filmography included Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was announced through a message by her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years saw small roles in TV shows including Gunsmoke while the seventies had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow plus humorous film Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she was given another supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she received a further nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the film which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother another time. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.