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This Oscar-nominated actress the celebrated Diane Ladd has died aged 89.

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

Dern, who starred with Diane Ladd in various films such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my wonderful hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was at her bedside as she died.

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

Initial Roles and Major Success

The start of her career featured small roles in television programs like Perry Mason while that decade had her appearing next to actor Jack Nicholson in Chinatown.

In the same year, the year 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s acclaimed film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she was seen in the thriller Black Widow as well as funny follow-up National Lampoon’s holiday comedy while also joining Alice, a television series based on her earlier movie.

In the following decade, she earned an additional supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded a further nomination for her acting in the film Rambling Rose that also featured Dern.

“This movie that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to the UK for a premiere and a party in our honor,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and crying, viewing our performance.”

That decade included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as Laura Dern’s mom another time. Those years also saw her score TV award nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing with Laura Dern in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project the movie Inland Empire and White’s comedy-drama series the program Enlightened. She was also seen with Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in that movie and with Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and helmed the comedy film Mrs Munck, a film featuring her and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a movie. Indeed, I am the sole female ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also a family member of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a great influence in my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and informed her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely after her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and prevent it from festering like a sore or something, instead apply it to investigate, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd expressed.