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This Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.

The actress, whose filmography featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared via an announcement from her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero and my precious gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Major Success

Ladd’s early career included small roles on television series including Perry Mason and the seventies had her appearing with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given an additional 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 real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Laura Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew me and Laura to London for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The nineties also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern another time. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Life

She happened to be the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to investigate, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.