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The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.

The actress, whose filmography featured Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced via an announcement from her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who appeared with her mother in various films like Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

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

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a television series derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.

“This movie that Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to the UK for a royal premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

That decade also saw roles in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. That period also brought her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck that included her and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Life

She happened to be a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and told her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.