🔗 Share this article

The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

The star, whose credits included Chinatown, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed in a statement by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films such as Rambling Rose, described her as “my incredible hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, noting that she was present during her final moments.

“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist and empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

The start of her career included supporting roles in TV shows like The Fugitive while that decade saw her starring next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which included her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, viewing our performance.”

The 1990s also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern another time. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened. She additionally starred next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female in history to direct her ex-husband. I make a joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.