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

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

Her daughter, who starred with her mom in a number of films such as Wild at Heart, called her “my wonderful hero plus my profound gift as a mother”, writing that she was at her bedside as she died.

“She was an exceptional grandmother, mother, daughter, performer, creative as well as empathetic spirit that seemed almost dreamlike,” she wrote. “We were lucky to have her. She is now with the angels.”

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Her initial acting years featured supporting roles on television series like The Fugitive and that decade had her appearing with Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she performed with Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s praised comedy drama Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her acting earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod as best supporting actress.

1980s and Beyond

In the 1980s, she starred in the dramatic film Black Widow as well as funny follow-up Christmas Vacation and also took part in the show Alice, a comedy program derived from Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she received a further best supporting actress nomination for her role in Lynch’s Wild at Heart in which she portrayed the parent of her biological child the character played by Dern. The following year she received a further nomination for her role in the film Rambling Rose which also starred Laura Dern.

“This movie which Princess Diana chose as her absolutely favorite, and she brought Laura and I to London for a royal premiere and a celebration dedicated to us,” Ladd said of Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, holding both our hands, and weeping, watching us perform.”

That decade featured performances in the comedy The Cemetery Club reuniting her with Ellen Burstyn, the movie Primary Colors, a political comedy, starring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth, a dark comedy where she acted as the mother of Dern again. The decade also brought her TV award nominations for roles in Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She persisted in performing with her daughter in comedy drama Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and the series by Mike White satirical show Enlightened. She was also seen alongside Sandra Bullock, a star in the film 28 Days, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie and Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her later TV roles included the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

Ladd also wrote and oversaw the humorous movie the movie Mrs Munck featuring her and ex-husband Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a great actor,” she mentioned. “It was a privilege to guide him in a movie. Actually, I am the sole female in history who directed her former husband. I humorously say: ‘I say ladies, if you seek payback, direct your ex-husband.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Personal Connections

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

During 2018, she received an incorrect diagnosis with lung disease and advised she had just six months to live but made a full recovery once her daughter transferred her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead use it to discover, to make the path clearer for yourself and others, then you are triumphing,” Ladd said.