BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA – JULY 27: Actress Diane Ladd arrives for the 2017 Summer TCA Tour – Hallmark Channel And Hallmark Movies And Mysteries on July 27, 2017 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Greg Doherty/WireImage)
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Diane Ladd, the three-time Academy Award–nominated actress whose career spanned more than six decades — and who shared both the screen with her daughter, Oscar winner Laura Dern — died Monday at her home in Ojai, California. She was 89.
“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, California,” Dern said in a statement. “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.”
Born Rose Diane Ladner on November 29, 1935, in Laurel, Mississippi, Ladd grew up in the Deep South and began her career on stage before moving into film and television in the 1950s. Early appearances on television included guest roles in the series The Big Story, Stanley, Decoy, Naked City, Perry Mason, and Hazel.
Ladd rose to prominence with Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore in 1974, earning her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress as the sharp-tongued waitress Flo. She went on to earn two more nominations — for David Lynch’s Wild at Heart (1990) and for the 1991 drama Rambling Rose, in which she starred alongside her daughter.
(Original Caption) 9/1974- Actress Diane Ladd (left) and Ellen Burstyn in a scene from the movie Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Burstyn is shown trying to open a jar as Ladd sets a table in a diner.
Bettmann Archive
In a quirky twist of television fate, Ladd reprised her Alice persona on the CBS sitcom Alice, joining as Belle Dupree after Polly Holliday departed the role of Flo. Both Holliday and Alice star Linda Lavin also passed away earlier this year.
NEW YORK – MARCH 1: CBS Television advertisement as appeared in the March 1, 1980 issue of TV Guide magazine. An ad for the Sunday primetime comedy program, Alice, introducing Diane Ladd (as Belle Dupree) and starring Linda Lavin, Beth Howland and Vic Tayback. (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)
CBS via Getty Images
Later Career and Continued Success
In her later years, Ladd appeared in the films Citizen Ruth (1996), Primary Colors (1998), and 28 Days (2000), and portrayed Helen in David Lynch’s Inland Empire (2006). On television, she appeared on television in Touched by an Angel, NCIS: New Orleans, and HBO’s Enlightened (2011–2013), where she again acted opposite Laura Dern — this time as her mother (where she earned her an Emmy nomination).
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA – MARCH 12: Actress Diane Ladd attending the world premiere of “Primary Colors” on March 12, 1998 at Cinerama Dome Theater in Universal City, California. (Photo by Ron Galella, Ltd./Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)
Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images
Ladd also appeared in films such as Joy (2015), I Dream Too Much (2016), and as Nell O’Brien in Chesapeake Shore (2016–2019) on Hallmark Channel.
Offscreen, Ladd was a writer, director, and producer, publishing essays and books that reflected her deep spirituality, wit, and Southern heritage. She co-authored the 2023 memoir Honey, Baby, Mine with Dern, chronicling their healing walks together after Ladd’s near-fatal illness in 2018.
Ladd married fellow actor Bruce Dern in 1960; the couple divorced in 1969. They had two daughters, including Diane Elizabeth Dern, who tragically died in 1962 at 18 months old following an accidental drowning.
She is survived by her daughter, Laura Dern, and grandchildren.
Beyond her achievements, Ladd was celebrated for her resilience. In 2018, after being diagnosed with a severe lung condition and given only months to live, she defied expectations, recovered, and co-authored a memoir with Dern titled Honey, Baby, Mine, chronicling their bond and their walks together toward healing.
Over a career of more than 200 film and television credits, Diane Ladd’s artistry was defined by authenticity — a refusal to compromise her truth, and a devotion to portraying women with heart, humor, and grit.
She is survived by her daughter, Laura Dern, and grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements will be private.