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This Academy Award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.

This actor, whose filmography included Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed through a message by her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

The start of her career included small roles in TV shows such as Gunsmoke and the seventies featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

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

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her real-life daughter Dern’s character. The following year she received an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.

“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew us to London for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film joining her again with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She also authored and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck, a film which starred herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Life

Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration in my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and advised her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, rather utilize it to investigate, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.