Actress Diane Ladd Dies At Age 89
on Nov 03, 2025
Actress Diane Ladd has died at the age of 89-years-old.
Ladd reportedly passed in her home in Ojai, California, with her daughter Laura Dern by her side.
Ladd was nominated for three Academy Awards for her roles in classics such as Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose.
“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 blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now,” Dern said in a statement.
Dern co-starred with Ladd in both Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose. For Rambling Rose, Dern earned an Oscar nomination, while Ladd also received a nomination, making them one of only two parent-child pairs in history to be nominated for Academy Awards for the same film. The only other duo to achieve this distinction was Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda for On Golden Pond in 1981, ABC reported.
Born in Mississippi in 1935, Ladd began her career in entertainment as a “Copa Girl,” performing at New York City’s legendary Copacabana nightclub, according to her official website. She soon moved into stage work, and from there transitioned to film and television, quickly gaining critical acclaim and earning award recognition.
In 1980, the actress won a Golden Globe for her performance as Isabelle “Belle” Dupree in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
Ladd married Bruce Dern in 1960 and gave birth to Laura Dern in 1967.
“Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch,” Bruce Dern said in a statement. “When he cast her as Laura‘s mom in ‘Wild at Heart’ it felt like the world then really understood her brilliance. She was a great value as a decades long board member of SAG, giving a real actress’ point of view.”
He added: “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.”
