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This award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us aged 89.

This actress, whose roles included Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed via an announcement by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who starred with her mother in several movies including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured small roles in TV shows such as Perry Mason whereas that decade featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose which included her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought Laura and I to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

The 1990s featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern again. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

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

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck which starred her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.