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This Oscar-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

This actress, whose credits spanned Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared in a statement shared by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies including Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years saw small roles in television programs including Gunsmoke whereas the seventies saw her starring next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the thriller the movie Black Widow and comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she was awarded another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew Laura and I to London for a special screening and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”

The nineties also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. The decade also earned her nominations for Emmy Awards for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She also authored and directed the comedy Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Actually, I’m the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and told her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health once her daughter moved her to another medical facility.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering similar to a wound, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.