Actress Diane Ladd died on Monday. She was 89.
The three-time Oscar nominee’s death was announced by her daughter, actress Laura Dern.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern wrote. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Ladd began her career as a theater actor, marrying fellow stage star Bruce Dern in 1960. Ladd’s ex-husband called the late actress “funny, clever [and] gracious” in a statement to Us Weekly.
“She lived a good life,” Bruce shared. “She saw everything the way it was. She was a great teammate to her fellow actors… But most importantly to me, she was a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter. And for that I will be forever grateful to her.”
Ladd’s breakout came in 1974 with parts in Roman Polanski’s “Chinatown” and Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.” The latter netted Dern her first Academy Award nomination.
Nearly two decades passed between Ladd’s first nomination and her second, for a role in David Lynch‘s “Wild at Heart.” Shortly thereafter, Ladd earned her final Oscar nom for acting opposite her daughter in Martha Coolidge’s “Rambling Rose.” In his statement, Bruce Dern credited Lynch for showcasing Ladd’s talent to the wider world.
“Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch,” he said. “When he cast her as Laura‘s mom in ‘Wild at Heart’ it felt like the world then really understood her brilliance.”
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