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The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

The actress, with roles included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared through a message by her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in various films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my precious gift as a mother”, writing that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured small roles in TV shows including Gunsmoke whereas the seventies featured her performing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a television series based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and a party for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The 1990s included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

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

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck that included herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.

During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter transferred 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 you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.