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This award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died at the age of 89.

This actress, whose credits included National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. This announcement was revealed through a message by her child, Oscar-winning actor Laura Dern.

Dern, who performed alongside her mother in several movies such as Wild at Heart, described her as “my amazing hero and my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

“She was the most wonderful daughter, mother, grandmother, performer, creative along with empathetic spirit that felt like a dream come true,” she expressed. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Early Career and Major Success

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

That very year, 1974, she appeared alongside Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese celebrated comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination for best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

During the eighties, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow plus humorous film National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the sitcom Alice, a comedy program inspired by her earlier movie.

During the next ten years, she received another best supporting actress Academy Award nomination for her part in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child Laura Dern’s role. A year later she obtained another nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought us to England for a royal premiere and a party dedicated to us,” Ladd said about the film Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, watching us perform.”

The 1990s featured performances in comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political story, a satirical film, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she played the mother of Dern once more. That period also brought her Emmy nominations for work on Dr Quinn, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel, a drama.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with her daughter in dramatic comedies Daddy and Them, a movie, Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened. She also appeared next to actress Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck that included Diane Ladd and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him on a project. Indeed, I stand as the only woman in history who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

Ladd was also a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration throughout my life”.

In 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with a respiratory illness and advised her life expectancy was six months but she regained full health when her daughter shifted her to another medical facility.

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