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

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

Dern, who appeared with her mom in a number of films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift of a mother”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Initial Roles and Rise to Fame

The start of her career featured supporting roles on television series such as Perry Mason whereas that decade featured her performing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

In the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she received a further supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she received a further nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to London for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”

That decade also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. That period also earned her TV award nominations for performances in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy Mrs Munck which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I’m the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

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

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and advised she had just six months to live yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, rather utilize it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.