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This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.

The star, with credits featured Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. The news was revealed via an announcement shared by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero plus my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

The start of her career saw supporting roles in TV shows including Perry Mason whereas the seventies had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a television series inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further best supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to London for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. The decade also brought her Emmy nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She also authored and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.