Ladd has appeared in dozens of films and series throughout her long career. She was first nominated for an Oscar in 1974 for her supporting role in Martin Scorsese’s film Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymorein which she plays a waitress. In 1990 she got another chance Wild at Heart by David Lynch. Ladd played the role of the evil mother of her daughter Laura Dern’s character.
Also in Rambling Rose (1991) she played together with her daughter. It was the first and for now only time that the two had a chance to win an Oscar for the same film.
Ladd and Dern were also recently seen together in the HBO series Enlightened (2011-2013). One of her last major films was Joy from 2015, in which she starred alongside Jennifer Lawrence.