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This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.

The star, whose credits included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared via an announcement by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with her mom in several movies such as Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured supporting roles in TV shows like The Fugitive whereas that decade saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose which included Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to England for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

The nineties included parts in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom again. Those years also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She additionally starred with actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

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

Filmmaking Ventures

She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.