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This award-nominated actress Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

This actress, with filmography featured Chinatown, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed via an announcement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with her mother in several movies such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero plus my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

The start of her career featured supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason while the seventies featured her performing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story plus comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a comedy program inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further best supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her biological child the character played by Dern. A year later she received another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother once more. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence throughout my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and told she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.