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

The star, with credits featured Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared through a message shared by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero and my precious gift as a mother”, stating that she was present during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career included minor parts on television series such as Perry Mason while that decade featured her performing with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom derived from her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she was given an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she received another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought us to the UK for a special screening and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

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

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film featuring herself and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Indeed, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

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

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.