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

This actress, whose roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed via an announcement from her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies including Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side as she died.

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

Initial Roles and Rise to Fame

The start of her career featured supporting roles in television programs including Gunsmoke whereas the 1970s had her appearing alongside Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus humorous film Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she received a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.

“This was the film that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to England for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern another time. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Life

Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.