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This award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.

This star, with roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared in a statement by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in a number of films including Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.

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

Initial Roles and Major Success

Her initial acting years included supporting roles in TV shows like The Fugitive and that decade featured her performing with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a sitcom inspired by her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she was given a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter Dern’s character. A year later she received an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a premiere and an event for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

That decade featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom another time. Those years also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her more recent television parts featured the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and directed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.