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The Oscar-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

This actress, whose filmography featured Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed in a statement shared by her child, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in various films like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my special gift of a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career featured minor parts in TV shows like The Fugitive and that decade had her appearing with actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story as well as funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given another supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.

“This movie that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. The decade also saw her score TV award nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included her and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence in my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.