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

The actress, with filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced in a statement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist and caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career featured small roles on television series such as The Fugitive while that decade had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received another supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”

The 1990s featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern once more. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd said.