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This Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

The actress, whose credits featured Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was revealed in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who appeared with her mother in various films like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my profound gift being my mom”, noting that she was present during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Major Success

Ladd’s early career featured small roles on television series including Gunsmoke whereas that decade saw her starring with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

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

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she received another supporting actress nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her actual daughter Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The 1990s included parts in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern another time. The decade also saw her score Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She additionally starred alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and helmed the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I was honored to direct him on a project. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded 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 Life

She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely after her daughter moved her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate similar to a wound, instead apply it to discover, to illuminate the way for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.