Who was Diane Ladd? Oscar-nominated actress and beloved mother of Laura Dern dies at 89
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American actress Laura Dern and mother Diane Ladd attending the Mothers & Daughters 4 Choice held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, Beverly Hills, California, 1994. (Photo by Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)Popular actress Diane Ladd has died aged 89. Ladd, mother to Oscar-nominated actress Laura Dern, passed away on November 4, 2025. Dern shared the news of her mother’s passing on November 3, 2025, stating that she was by her bedside when she passed away. She described her mother as a great person with an empathetic spirit:
"She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created," she added. "We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now."
Diane Ladd was an Oscar and Emmy-nominated actress. She was popular for playing Flo in the Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore series.
More details about Diane Ladd, as the Oscar-nominated actress passes away at 89
Diane Ladd was born to an actress mother in Mississippi. She began singing, dancing and acting from a young age and scored her first film feature in 1966 in The Wild Angels.
She went on to star in several TV shows, including Naked City, Mr Novak and Perry Mason.
She recalled an incident during the shooting of her first film and praised her co-actors for their bravery. She told PEOPLE:
"I remember when we were filming Wild Angels, my very first film, we were practically children back then. 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 and Bruce Dern protected us and led us all to safety. His courage always shined through like that."
Her first Academy Award nomination came for her impressive performance in Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
She earned a Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress in the movie spinoff Alice.
Laura Dern followed in her mother’s footsteps and starred in several movies alongside her mother. Their first film together was Wild at Heart, for which Ladd was nominated for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars for a second time.
Lardd wed her Wild Angels costar Bruce Dern in 1960. They had two daughters, Diane and Laura, before their divorce. She was married to William A. Shea Jr from 1969 to 1976.
She married Robert Charles Hunter in 1999 and was with him till his death in July 2025.
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