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The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died aged 89.

The actress, with roles featured Chinatown, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was shared in a statement by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Dern, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke whereas the 1970s had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received an additional supporting actress nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The following year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

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

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with lung disease and informed she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.