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This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away aged 89.

The actor, with filmography spanned Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was revealed in a statement by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who appeared with her mother in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Major Success

The start of her career featured supporting roles on television series including The Fugitive while the seventies featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a comedy program based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she earned a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to the UK for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother again. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared with Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

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

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.