🔗 Share this article

The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.

The star, whose roles included Chinatown, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared through a message shared by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in several movies such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift being my mom”, stating that she was present when she passed.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Major Success

The start of her career included minor parts on television series like The Fugitive and that decade featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

In the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The nineties featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also earned her Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Life

She was additionally a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration in my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but made a full recovery after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.