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This award-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

The actress, whose credits featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, passed away at home in Ojai, California. The news was shared in a statement by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who appeared with her mom in a number of films such as Rambling Rose, called her “my amazing hero plus my special gift as a mother”, stating that she was by her side as she died.

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

Early Career and Rise to Fame

The start of her career featured minor parts in television programs such as Gunsmoke whereas the seventies saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting brought Ladd an Academy Award nomination for best supporting actress.

Later Decades

Throughout the 1980s, she appeared in the thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given another supporting actress nomination for her performance in Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she obtained another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”

The 1990s also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for performances on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Working with Laura Dern

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She additionally starred with Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and oversaw the humorous movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I am the sole female in history to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

She was additionally the third cousin of the great Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact in my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and advised she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely once her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, rather utilize it to explore, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd said.