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The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran passed away 89 years old.

The actress, whose filmography included Chinatown, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was shared through a message from her offspring, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who appeared with her mom in a number of films like Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero and my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

The start of her career included small roles on television series like The Fugitive and that decade had her appearing alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she was seen in crime thriller the movie Black Widow as well as humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a comedy program based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the parent of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and a party in our honor,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The nineties also saw roles in humorous films The Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern another time. Those years also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s satirical show the program Enlightened. She additionally starred next to Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Her later TV roles featured the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and directed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included her and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in recorded history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

She was additionally a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact throughout my life”.

During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely when her daughter shifted her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.