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The Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

This actress, whose roles featured Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed in a statement by her child, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in various films like Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

The start of her career featured small roles on television series such as Gunsmoke and the 1970s saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow plus funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she earned a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. The next year she received an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to London for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom again. The decade also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

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

Behind the Camera

She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Indeed, I’m the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and informed she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.