Actress Diane Ladd’s Cause of Death Revealed
on Nov 18, 2025 • Updated Dec 09, 2025
Earlier this month (November 3), actress Diane Ladd died at the age of 89. 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 appeared alongside Ladd in both Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose. Their performances in Rambling Rose earned each of them an Oscar nomination, making them only the second parent–child duo in history to be nominated for Academy Awards for the same film. The first pair to do so was Henry Fonda and Jane Fonda for On Golden Pond in 1981, according to ABC.
In 1980, the actress won a Golden Globe for her performance as Isabelle “Belle” Dupree in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore.
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Diane Ladd’s Official Cause Of Death Released
On Monday (November 17) PEOPLE reported Ladd’s official cause of death as “acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure.”
According to the Cleveland Clinic, hypoxic respiratory failure occurs when the blood oxygen level is too low. This usually happens because the lungs are unable to effectively transfer oxygen into the blood.
The certificate notes that she had long-standing interstitial lung disease, which had been present for several years. Esophageal dysmotility was also listed as a significant contributing condition.
The record notes Ladd was cremated on November 10.
