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The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us aged 89.

This star, with roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was announced in a statement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Dern, who appeared with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative as well as empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Major Success

Her initial acting years featured supporting roles in television programs like Gunsmoke while the seventies saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she was given a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she received another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose which included Dern.

“This was the film that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a special screening and an event for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, taking our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

That decade included parts in comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother again. That period also brought her TV award nominations for performances on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a family member of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.

During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

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