Diane Ladd, Academy Award-nominated veteran actress and mother of Laura Dern, has died at the age of 89.
According to a statement published by PEOPLE, Dern revealed that she had passed away at her home.
“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Calif.,” Dern, 58, said.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” she continued. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
In a career stretching over 70 years, Ladd appeared in over 200 films and TV shows, receiving no less than three Academy Award nominations for her roles in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990), and Rambling Rose (1991).
As per Life After 50, Ladd – who decided to shorten her surname from Ladner when she began working in Hollywood – started exploring the performative arts, acting, dancing, and singing, at a young age.
Her career on TV bloomed throughout the ’50s and ’60s, while she earned her first official film credit in the 1966 crime drama The Wild Angels.
“I remember when we were filming Wild Angels, my very first film, we were practically children back then,” Ladd told PEOPLE in 2019.
“It was a foggy night, and some bikers came up the mountain and threatened to tie Peter and another crew member to a generator… [but] Peter [Fonda] and Bruce Dern protected us and led us all to safety. His courage always shined through like that.”
Ladd was married to Bruce Dern between 1960 and 1969. The couple had two daughters, Diane Elizabeth, who died in a drowning accident aged just 18 months, and Laura, who would go on to become a superstar in her own right, appearing in films including Jurassic Park, October Sky, and I Am Sam.
Diane and Laura appeared in several projects together, with both earning respective Academy Award nominations for their performances in 1991’s Rambling Rose.
Rest in peace, Diane Ladd.
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