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The Academy Award-nominated actress Diane Ladd passed away 89 years old.

This star, with credits included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared in a statement from her child, award-winning actress Laura Dern, her daughter.

Laura Dern, who appeared with Diane Ladd in a number of films including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift being my mom”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was the most wonderful mother, daughter, grandmother, actress, artist as well as caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were lucky to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Rise to Fame

The start of her career saw supporting roles in television programs including The Fugitive while that decade had her appearing alongside actor Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Martin Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she appeared in crime thriller the movie Black Widow and funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and appeared on Alice, a television series derived from the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given another supporting actress nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. A year later she received another nomination for her performance in the film Rambling Rose which included her daughter.

“This was the picture that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she flew me and Laura to the UK for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

The 1990s featured performances in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as 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 and Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and White’s dark comedy series Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared with actress Sandra Bullock in 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts featured Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

She also authored and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film which starred her and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman in recorded history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I tell women, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also the third cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a significant impact on my life”.

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

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.