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

This actress, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was announced in a statement from her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern, her daughter.

Dern, who appeared with her mother in several movies such as Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my wonderful hero and my special gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside when she passed.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Early Career and Major Success

The start of her career saw supporting roles in TV shows such as The Fugitive and the seventies saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

That very year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting brought Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow plus funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a sitcom inspired by Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned another supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained a further nomination for her acting in 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 the UK for a special screening and an event for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, grasping our hands, with tears, seeing us act.”

That decade included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club joining her again with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne the movie Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern again. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series Enlightened. She also appeared with actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

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

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy film Mrs Munck that included herself and previous spouse actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence on my life”.

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a pulmonary condition and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.