🔗 Share this article

This Academy Award-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd left us at the age of 89.

This actor, with filmography featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in Ojai, California. This announcement was shared via an announcement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero and my profound gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

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

Beginnings and Breakthrough

The start of her career featured supporting roles in television programs like Gunsmoke and that decade saw her starring alongside the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she appeared in the dramatic film Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the sitcom Alice, a sitcom based on the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she received a further nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Dern.

“This was the film that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to London for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd said regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”

The 1990s also saw roles in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern once more. That period also brought her nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire plus Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

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

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck which starred herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history to direct her ex-husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Life

Ladd was also a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery once her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead use it to explore, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.