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The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

This star, with roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared through a message from her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero and my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career included minor parts in television programs including The Fugitive whereas the seventies saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she obtained another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited us to England for a premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern once more. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s satirical show Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She was additionally a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like a sore or something, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.