🔗 Share this article

This Oscar-nominated actor Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89.

The actor, with credits featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was announced in a statement by her offspring, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my amazing hero plus my precious gift of a mother”, noting that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist along with empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Beginnings and Major Success

Ladd’s early career included small roles in television programs such as Gunsmoke whereas that decade saw her starring with actor Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed with actress Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised film the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd an Academy Award nomination in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film Black Widow and comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received a further supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart, a cult classic where she acted as the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. A year later she was awarded an additional nod for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This was the film that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew Laura and I to England for a premiere and an event in our honor,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, taking our hands, and weeping, viewing our performance.”

The nineties included parts in comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a political comedy, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for work in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Partnerships with Her Daughter

She kept appearing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, Lynch’s Inland Empire and White’s dark comedy series the program Enlightened. She also appeared alongside actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances consisted of Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She additionally penned and oversaw the comedy Mrs Munck, a film which starred Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. In fact, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, helm a movie with your ex.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

She happened to be a relative of the great Tennessee Williams, whom she described as “a major inspiration in my life”.

In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a pulmonary condition and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery when her daughter moved her to a different hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.