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This Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

This actress, whose filmography included Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my wonderful hero and my special gift as a mother”, writing that she was present as she died.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years included small roles in TV shows like Gunsmoke while the seventies had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a comedy program based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she was given a further supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern another time. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and directed the comedy Mrs Munck featuring herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I am the sole female ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Life

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

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.