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This Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.

The actress, with filmography spanned Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. The news was shared via an announcement by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Dern, who performed alongside her mom in a number of films like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career saw minor parts in television programs like Gunsmoke while that decade saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by her earlier movie.

In the subsequent decade, she received another supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

That decade included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern another time. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Family Ties

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

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, rather utilize it to explore, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.