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The award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.

The actress, whose roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed through a message by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in several movies including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years included supporting roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she received an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.

“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. The decade also saw her score TV award nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s satirical show Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.

During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up similar to a wound, rather utilize it to investigate, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.