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This Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.

This actress, with roles spanned Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, died at her home in California’s Ojai. This announcement was revealed through a message by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern, her daughter.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful hero and my special gift being my mom”, stating that she was present during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist as well as empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Ladd’s early career included minor parts in TV shows including Gunsmoke and the 1970s saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her first Oscar nomination in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a television series derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given an additional supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she played the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The next year she was awarded a further nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured Dern.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought us to London for a special screening and a celebration for us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother again. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing with her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Behind the Camera

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy Mrs Munck that included herself and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him on a project. Actually, I stand as the only woman in history to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, should you desire retribution, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a family member of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a great influence on my life”.

During 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a respiratory illness and informed she had just six months to live but she regained full health after her daughter transferred her to a different hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.