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The award-nominated actress Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.

This actor, with roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her 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 appeared with her mom in various films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my precious gift as a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Major Success

The start of her career included supporting roles on television series such as Perry Mason and that decade had her appearing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a comedy program based on her earlier movie.

In the subsequent decade, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to the UK for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

That decade featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother once more. That period also brought her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

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

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred her and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.