🔗 Share this article

This Academy Award-nominated performer Diane Ladd, a Hollywood veteran has died 89 years old.

The actor, with roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, passed away at home in California’s Ojai. The news was shared via an announcement shared by her child, Academy Award-winning star her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films like Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero plus my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was present during her final moments.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, star, artist as well as caring individual that felt like a dream come true,” she stated. “We were lucky to have her. Her spirit soars with angels.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

The start of her career featured minor parts in television programs like Gunsmoke and the seventies had her appearing next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, 1974, she performed alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated comedy drama the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her role landed Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

During the eighties, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation while also joining the show Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she earned an additional supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the mother of her actual daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she obtained another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This was the picture that the late Princess Diana picked as her top choice, and she flew me and Laura to England for a premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd shared of Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

That decade featured performances in comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with her co-star Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, with John Travolta and Alexander Payne’s Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she played the mother of Dern again. The decade also earned her Emmy nominations for work in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom plus Touched by an Angel.

Working with Laura Dern

She continued to star with her daughter in dramatic comedies the film Daddy and Them, the David Lynch project Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock in the film 28 Days, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Subsequent TV appearances included Ray Donovan, a drama and Young Sheldon.

Filmmaking Ventures

Ladd also wrote and directed the comedy the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a great actor,” she noted. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female ever to helm a film with her ex. I make a joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also the third cousin of Tennessee Williams, who she referred to as “a major inspiration in my life”.

During 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told her life expectancy was six months yet she recovered completely after her daughter transferred her to another medical facility.

“If you can take your pain and not let it back up similar to a wound, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd remarked.