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The award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.

The actor, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. The news was announced in a statement by her child, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies like Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside during her final moments.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Early Career and Major Success

Ladd’s early career saw small roles on television series like Perry Mason whereas that decade featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she received another supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she received another nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

The nineties included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom another time. Those years also saw her score Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

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

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

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him on a project. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence throughout my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, instead use it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.