🔗 Share this article

This Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

This actress, with filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in Ojai, California. Her passing was revealed through a message by her offspring, Academy Award-winning star Laura Dern.

Dern, who starred with her mom in several movies like Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero as well as my special gift of a mother”, noting that she was present when she passed.

“She was an exceptional mother, daughter, grandmother, star, artist and compassionate soul that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career saw minor parts on television series like The Fugitive while the seventies saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

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

Later Decades

In the 1980s, she appeared in crime thriller Black Widow, a suspense story and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and also took part in the show Alice, a sitcom derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her biological child the character played by Dern. The next year she received another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which also starred her daughter.

“This was the picture which Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she invited Laura and I to England for a premiere and a celebration in our honor,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She positioned herself between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, seeing us act.”

That decade featured performances in the comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, with John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy in which she portrayed the mother of Dern again. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and the series by Mike White dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

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

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck that included her and former husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. In fact, I stand as the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you want revenge, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also a relative of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration on my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with lung disease and advised she only had half a year left but she regained full health when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

“Should you harness your suffering and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, rather utilize it to discover, to make the path clearer for you and those around, then you are winning,” Ladd remarked.