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

This star, whose credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced via an announcement from her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies such as Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative and caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years featured minor parts on television series including The Fugitive and that decade saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy 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 starred in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to London for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

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

Working with Laura Dern

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a relative of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and informed she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.