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Three-Time Oscar Nominee Diane Ladd Dies at 89

Amy Curtis
Amy Curtis  |  November 03, 2025 9:30 PM

Actress Diane Ladd, three-time Oscar nominee and mother of actress Laura Dern, has died. She was 89 years old.

Here's more from the New York Post:

Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actress and mother to Laura Dern, has died. She was 89.

Dern announced the news in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. She revealed that her mom died in California on Monday, Nov. 3. No cause of death was given.

Ladd was born Rose Diane Ladner in Laurel, Mississippi. She was the only child of Mary and Paul Ladner. She grew up in nearby Meridian, where she attended St. Aloysius Catholic School.

Dern issued a statement on her mother's passing, which read, "My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, CA. She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created. We were bless to have her. She is flying with her angels now."

At age 16, Ladd graduated from St. Aloysius and attended finishing school in New Orleans, where she was torn between pursuing a career in law and a career in acting. She studied singing, dancing, fencing, and spent time acting in community theater. 

One of her performances was noticed by a touring cast member of John Carradine's Tobacco Road, and that landed Ladd a gig in a San Francisco production.

Ladd's career spanned more than six decades, including plays, movies, and television. In 1971, she joined the cast of the CBS soap opera The Secret Storm and had a supporting role in Roman Polanski's Chinatown (1974). She would later be nominated for an Academy Award for her role in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Ladd would later reprise her role as Flo in the TV series Alice.

Ladd would be nominated for an Academy Award for her roles in Wild At Heart and Rambling Rose. While she never won an Oscar, she did win the 1981 Golden Globe for her work on Alice.

Ladd worked with Lynch and her daughter Dern on Wild At Heart. Lynch died in January from complications of emphysema.

In 1960, Ladd married fellow actor Bruce Dern. They had two children, daughter Diane (who died aged 18 months) and Laura. The couple divorced after nine years of marriage.

In a statement, Dern remembered his former wife, "Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch. When he cast her as Laura‘s mom in Wild at Heart it felt like the world then really understood her brilliance," Dern said. "She was a great value as a decades long board member of SAG, giving a real actress’ point of view."She lived a good life. She saw everything the way it was. She was a great teammate to her fellow actors. She was funny, clever, gracious. 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."

In 2010, Ladd and both Bruce and Laura Dern were given adjoining stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Ladd was married to William A. Shea Jr. from 1969 to 1977. She was also married to Robert Hunter from 1999 until his death earlier this year.

Ladd is survived by her daughter, Laura, her former husband, Bruce Dern, and her grandchildren, Ellery and Jaya.