Diane Ladd, Oscar-Nominated Actress and Mother of Laura Dern, Dies at 89

Veteran American actress Diane Ladd, mother of Jurassic Park star Laura Dern, has died aged 89 at her home in Ojai, California. Dern confirmed her mother’s passing, saying she was by her side in her final moments.

Ladd, born Rose Diane Ladner, was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose. In the latter, she and her daughter became the first—and only—mother-daughter duo to receive Oscar nominations for the same film.

Her decades-long career included roles in Chinatown, White Lightning, and HBO’s Enlightened, where she again starred alongside Dern. The pair co-authored the 2023 memoir Honey, Baby, Mine, inspired by conversations during Ladd’s recovery from lung disease.

Ladd was reportedly battling idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, diagnosed in 2018, though the exact cause of death has not been disclosed.

Married three times, Ladd was first wed to actor Bruce Dern, with whom she had two daughters. She later married William A. Shea Jr. and, in 1999, Robert Charles Hunter, who died earlier this year. She is survived by Laura Dern and two grandchildren, Ellery and Jaya Harper.