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

This actor, whose filmography featured Chinatown, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was shared via an announcement from her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mom in several movies like Rambling Rose, called her “my incredible hero as well as my profound gift being my mom”, writing that she was present when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” 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 including Perry Mason and the 1970s saw her starring alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received an additional supporting actress Oscar nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited Laura and I to London for a premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

That decade featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Dern’s mother another time. That period also brought her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She continued to star alongside her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show the program Enlightened. She was also seen 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.

Writing and Directing

She also authored and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck featuring herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I stand as the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and informed her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to clarify the journey for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.