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This Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

This actor, whose roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Major Success

The start of her career included small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke whereas the seventies had her appearing with actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew Laura and I to England for a premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern again. That period also brought her TV award nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She continued to star with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a great influence in my life”.

During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.