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The Academy Award-nominated performer the celebrated Diane Ladd passed away aged 89.

The actress, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, left this world in her residence in California’s Ojai. Her passing was announced through a message by her daughter, award-winning actress Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who performed alongside her mother in a number of films like Wild at Heart, described her as “my incredible hero as well as my special gift being my mom”, noting that she was at her bedside during her final moments.

“She was the greatest grandmother, mother, daughter, actress, artist along with caring individual that seemed almost dreamlike,” she expressed. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Initial Roles and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured small roles in TV shows including Gunsmoke and the 1970s saw her starring with the legendary Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

During that year, the year 1974, she appeared with actress Ellen Burstyn in the Martin Scorsese praised dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. The performance brought Ladd her first Oscar nomination as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in crime thriller the movie Black Widow plus comedy sequel National Lampoon’s holiday comedy and appeared on Alice, a sitcom derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the subsequent decade, she earned a further Oscar nomination for supporting actress Oscar nomination for her performance in the David Lynch film Wild at Heart, a cult classic in which she portrayed the mother of her biological child Dern’s character. The next year she was awarded another nomination for her performance in Rambling Rose which also starred Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought me and Laura to England for a royal premiere and a celebration for us,” Ladd recalled of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

That decade included parts in the comedy Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and Payne’s the movie Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother another time. Those years also brought her Emmy nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire, a sitcom and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with Laura Dern in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire, a surreal film and Mike White’s dark comedy series Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in The World’s Fastest Indian, a film and with Jennifer Lawrence in Joy.

Subsequent TV appearances included the series Ray Donovan and Young Sheldon, a comedy.

Filmmaking Ventures

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck which starred herself and former husband actor Bruce Dern. “Bruce is an excellent performer,” she said. “It was a privilege to guide him in a film. Actually, I’m the only woman ever to helm a film with her ex. I often joke: ‘I advise females, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ However, I’m joking.”

Personal Connections

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

Back in 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she only had half a year left but made a full recovery once her daughter shifted her to a new hospital.

“If you can take your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like a sore or something, instead apply it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are winning,” Ladd said.