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This Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

The star, whose credits spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared through a message by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero and my special gift as a mother”, noting that she was present as she died.

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

Early Career and Rise to Fame

The start of her career featured minor parts in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she received an additional best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother once more. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“When you use your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.