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This Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.

This actress, with roles included Chinatown, passed away at home in Ojai, California. This announcement was revealed via an announcement from her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who performed alongside Diane Ladd in a number of films including Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero plus my precious gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

“She was an exceptional daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Major Success

The start of her career featured small roles in television programs like Gunsmoke whereas that decade featured her performing alongside Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow, a suspense story plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and also took part in the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she received a further best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she received another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew us to the UK for a royal premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern once more. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts consisted of Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Behind the Camera

She also authored and oversaw the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I often joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and prevent it from festering like an injury, instead use it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.