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The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us aged 89.

The actor, whose credits included Chinatown, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. The news was revealed through a message from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years saw supporting roles in TV shows including The Fugitive and the 1970s saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she was given a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she was awarded another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to London for a special screening and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern another time. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred her and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and informed she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.