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The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd left us aged 89.

The star, with roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. The news was revealed through a message shared by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Major Success

The start of her career included minor parts in television programs like The Fugitive while the seventies had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance landed Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she obtained another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to England for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

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

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film that included her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

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

In 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live but she regained full health when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd said.