🔗 Share this article

This award-nominated actor the celebrated Diane Ladd left us 89 years old.

The star, whose roles featured National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home at her Ojai, California home. Her passing was revealed in a statement shared by her daughter, award-winning actress her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who appeared with Diane Ladd in several movies including Wild at Heart, referred to her as “my wonderful hero as well as my profound gift of a mother”, stating that she was by her side during her final moments.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, star, artist along with compassionate soul that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were fortunate to know her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Beginnings and Rise to Fame

Her initial acting years saw supporting roles on television series including Perry Mason whereas that decade featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the film Chinatown.

That very year, the year 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s celebrated dramatic comedy the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod in the supporting actress category.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she was seen in the dramatic film the movie Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the show Alice, a television series inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

In the following decade, she was given another Oscar nomination for supporting actress nomination for her part in Lynch’s the movie Wild at Heart where she played the mom of her actual daughter Laura Dern’s role. The following year she obtained another nomination for her role in Rambling Rose, another movie that also featured her daughter.

“This was the film which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought me and Laura to the UK for a royal premiere and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd recalled about the film Rambling Rose. “She sat with us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

The nineties included parts in humorous films Cemetery Club, a film reuniting her with Burstyn, Primary Colors, a satirical film, starring John Travolta and Payne’s Citizen Ruth where she acted as Dern’s mother once more. That period also saw her score Emmy nominations for roles in the series Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing alongside her daughter in films blending humor and drama Daddy and Them, a movie, David Lynch’s the movie Inland Empire and Mike White’s satirical show Enlightened, a TV series. She was also seen next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Anthony Hopkins, a legend in The World’s Fastest Indian and Jennifer Lawrence in the film Joy.

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

Writing and Directing

She additionally penned and helmed the humorous movie Mrs Munck, a film that included herself and former husband Bruce Dern, an actor. “Bruce is a talented star,” she said. “I’m privileged to have directed him in a movie. In fact, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I often joke: ‘I tell women, if you want revenge, direct your ex-husband.’ Though I’m just teasing.”

Family Ties

She was additionally a family member of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a significant impact in my life”.

In 2018, Ladd was misdiagnosed with a respiratory illness and told she had just six months to live but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“Should you harness your suffering and not let it back up like an injury, instead use it to explore, to clarify the journey for personal and collective growth, then you are succeeding,” Ladd remarked.