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This Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd passed away at the age of 89.

This star, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home at her Ojai, California home. The news was announced through a message shared by her child, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films like Rambling Rose, described her as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was present as she died.

“She was the greatest mother, daughter, grandmother, performer, creative and caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Major Success

The start of her career included supporting roles in TV shows such as Perry Mason and that decade had her appearing next to the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. The performance brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination as best supporting actress.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a comedy program derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she received an additional nod for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which included Laura Dern.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a premiere and a party for us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, grasping our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The 1990s also saw roles in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, featuring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed Dern’s mother again. Those years also earned her Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

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

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

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. In fact, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact on my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up like a sore or something, instead use it to investigate, to clarify the journey for you and those around, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.