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The Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

This star, whose roles featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with Diane Ladd in several movies including Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero plus my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke while that decade saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a comedy program inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she earned a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to London for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”

The nineties also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother another time. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing with her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

She also authored and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.