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This Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.

This actor, whose roles featured Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced through a message shared by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, noting that she was present when she passed.

“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative and caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Major Success

Ladd’s early career featured small roles on television series such as The Fugitive while the 1970s featured her performing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the show Alice, a sitcom based on her earlier movie.

In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The next year she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Laura Dern.

“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern again. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck that included her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female ever to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact throughout my life”.

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

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to investigate, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.