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The Oscar-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

This actor, whose roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was announced through a message from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side as she died.

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

Early Career and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured supporting roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow as well as funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom again. Those years also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.