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The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

The actress, whose filmography featured Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, left this world in her residence at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was shared via an announcement shared by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Laura Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in a number of films like Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was by her side when she passed.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is now with the angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years saw small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke while the 1970s saw her starring alongside Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program derived from her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she was given an additional Oscar nomination for supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her role in the David Lynch film the movie Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter Laura Dern’s role. The next year she obtained another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she invited me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and a party for us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, with tears, watching us perform.”

The nineties featured performances in the comedy Cemetery Club reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, featuring John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth in which she portrayed Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also saw her score nominations for Emmy Awards for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

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

Her later TV roles consisted of the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck which starred herself and ex-husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

She happened to be a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.

Back in 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and informed she only had half a year left yet she recovered completely after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.