🔗 Share this article

The Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran left us at the age of 89.

This actress, with credits spanned Chinatown, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. The news was shared through a message by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who appeared with Diane Ladd in several movies like Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero as well as my profound gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows such as Perry Mason whereas the 1970s featured her performing next to actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining Alice, a television series derived from her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she was given another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mother of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded an additional nod for her performance in Rambling Rose which included Laura Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited Laura and I to England for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles featured Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She also authored and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration in my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, instead apply it to discover, to illuminate the way for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd expressed.