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The award-nominated actress Diane Ladd left us aged 89.

This star, with roles included Chinatown, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was revealed through a message from her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films including Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my special gift being my mom”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with compassionate soul that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career saw supporting roles in television programs including Perry Mason and the seventies featured her performing with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story and humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she earned an additional supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Dern’s character. A year later she obtained an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew Laura and I to England 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, seeing us act.”

The 1990s included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother another time. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and the series by Mike White comedy-drama series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. In fact, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, if you seek payback, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

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