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The award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.

The actor, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed via an announcement from her daughter, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my amazing hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, writing that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years saw minor parts on television series like Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting landed Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in Alice, a television series based on Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she received another supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured her daughter.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she invited us to England for a special screening and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The nineties featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. Those years also earned her TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared alongside Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Indeed, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Life

She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact on my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd said.