The A League Of Their Own star's 81-year-old father, Edward Joseph O'Donnell, lost his battle with cancer, her publicist confirms to E! News.

After news of his death surfaced on Sunday (23Aug15), O'Donnell took to Twitter.com to post a photo of one of her mixed media art pieces, which features a black-and-white photo of a newlywed couple and the word "hurts" at the bottom.

She added the vague caption, "through him - with him - in him ..."

O'Donnell had a strained relationship with her dad ever since she was 10 years old when her mother, Roseann O'Donnell, also passed away from cancer in 1973.

The actress has previously opened up about her father in a 2012 interview with Piers Morgan, revealing, "He had his own issues and demons, he had a very tough childhood, he had an alcoholic, abusive father and never really got the help that I think every person needs when they have lived through that as a child. I think that he had a lot of problems to deal with."

Despite their hardships, O'Donnell said she had since forgiven her dad, adding, "You get to be 50 years old you can't still be angry at what your father did in 1970. You have to work it out for yourself and find a place for it in your life and not rehash it forever... No matter what, at the end of the day, every child loves their dad."

The news comes more than a week after the star reported her 17-year-old daughter, Chelsea, was missing. The teen was found on Tuesday (18Aug15) following a public appeal by her mother.

On Friday (21Aug15), Steven Sheerer, 25, was arrested in connection with Chelsea's disappearance, and faces charges of child endangerment and distribution of obscenity to a minor. His bail was set at $40,000 (£25,000).