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This Academy Award-nominated actor Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died aged 89.

The star, with filmography spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared through a message shared by her daughter, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Dern, who performed alongside her mother in several movies like Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero as well as my precious gift as a mother”, stating that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist along with caring individual that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she stated. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career included small roles in television programs like The Fugitive while that decade featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she appeared with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese acclaimed comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she received a further best supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she acted as the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The following year she received an additional nod for her role in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Laura Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to London for a premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, grasping our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

That decade featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as the mother of Dern once more. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for performances in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in comedy drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Her later TV roles included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck featuring herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you seek payback, helm a movie with your ex.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

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

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and told she had just six months to live but she regained full health once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.