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

The actress, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was announced through a message shared by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative and compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career saw minor parts in TV shows such as Perry Mason and the seventies saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on the show Alice, a sitcom based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned an additional best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This was the film that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

That decade included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

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

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Actually, I am the sole female in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

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

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.