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The Oscar-nominated performer Diane Ladd has died 89 years old.

The actress, with filmography spanned National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, died at her home in California’s Ojai. Her passing was shared through a message by her offspring, Oscar-winning actor her daughter Laura Dern.

Her daughter, who appeared with her mother in a number of films including Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, referred to her as “my incredible hero and my profound gift as a mother”, noting that she was by her side as she died.

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

Beginnings and Breakthrough

Ladd’s early career featured minor parts in television programs such as Perry Mason while the 1970s featured her performing next to Jack Nicholson in the classic Chinatown.

In the same year, 1974, she shared the screen alongside Ellen Burstyn in Scorsese’s acclaimed dramatic comedy Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, a classic. Her role earned Ladd her initial Oscar nod for best supporting actress.

Subsequent Years

Throughout the 1980s, she starred in the thriller Black Widow as well as comedy sequel National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and appeared on the sitcom Alice, a sitcom inspired by the film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.

During the next ten years, she was given another best supporting actress nomination for her performance in David Lynch’s Wild at Heart where she acted as the mom of her real-life daughter the character played by Dern. The following year she obtained another nomination for her acting in Rambling Rose, another movie which also starred her daughter.

“This was the film that Princess Diana selected as her very favorite, and she brought us to the UK for a special screening and an event dedicated to us,” Ladd shared regarding Rambling Rose. “And she sat between us, taking our hands, and crying, seeing us act.”

That decade also saw roles in the comedy Cemetery Club bringing her back with Ellen Burstyn, Primary Colors, a comedy about politics, featuring John Travolta and the film by Alexander Payne Citizen Ruth where she played Laura Dern’s mom once more. That period also earned her TV award nominations for work on Dr Quinn, the show Grace Under Fire and Touched by an Angel.

Collaborations with Daughter

She continued to star with Laura Dern in films blending humor and drama the film Daddy and Them, David Lynch’s Inland Empire and Mike White’s comedy-drama series Enlightened. She also appeared next to Sandra Bullock, a star in 28 Days, a movie, Sir Anthony Hopkins in that movie plus Jennifer Lawrence in Joy, a biographical drama.

Her more recent television parts consisted of the series Ray Donovan plus Young Sheldon.

Writing and Directing

She also authored and oversaw the comedy film the movie Mrs Munck featuring Diane Ladd and previous spouse Bruce Dern. “Bruce is a talented star,” she noted. “I was honored to direct him in a film. Indeed, I stand as the only woman ever who directed her former husband. I make a joke: ‘I say ladies, should you desire retribution, guide your former spouse.’ But I’m only kidding.”

Family Ties

Ladd was also a relative of Tennessee Williams, who she called “a major inspiration on my life”.

Back in 2018, doctors misdiagnosed Ladd with a pulmonary condition and informed her life expectancy was six months but made a full recovery after her daughter moved her to a new hospital.

“When you use your pain and avoid letting it accumulate like an injury, instead apply it to investigate, to illuminate the way for personal and collective growth, then you are triumphing,” Ladd expressed.