Lauren Dern's Mother Diane Ladd Dead at 89: Oscar-Winner Remembers Her 'Amazing Hero' in Heartbreaking Tribute
Laura Dern's mother, Diane Ladd. has passed away at the age of 89.
Nov. 3 2025, Published 3:24 p.m. ET
Diane Ladd, the Oscar-nominated actress and mother of Laura Dern, has passed away at age 89, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Dern, 58, confirmed her mother passed away at her Ojai, California, home on Monday, November 3.
Dern Remembers Her 'Amazing Hero'
Dern confirmed she was by her mother's side when she passed away on November 3.
The actress reportedly said in a statement: "My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Calif.
"She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created."
Dern added: "We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now."
Ladd's Health Crisis
Dern said she was 'blessed' to have her mother, who is 'flying with her angels now.'
Two years before her death, Ladd and her daughter released the joint book Honey, Baby, Mine, which included the mother-daughter duo's intimate conversations as they navigated the then-87-year-old's health crisis.
Ladd had reportedly been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a lung disease, and was given six months to live.
Dern explained the doctor advised her going for walks could help her mother, so the pair began walking together, and the simple act brought them closer together.
The Big Little Lies star said their discussions during the walks "grew into a profound deepening of our relationship."
Ladd was previously diagnosed with a lung disease, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.
Ladd said of their chats detailed in the book: "All the deep listening filled us with love. And it was very healing."
The mother-daughter duo agreed one of their most difficult conversations was about the death of Dern's sister, Diane Elizabeth, who passed at 18 months in a drowning accident.
While the conversation was painful, Dern said "talking about it was an amazing experience" that "changed our relationship in the feeling that we can talk about everything now."
Ladd said the deep conversations she shared with her daughter during her health crisis were 'very healing.'
While reflecting on their book, Dern also shared her favorite things about her mom.
Dern said: "She has the most open, honest face. You know what she's feeling. It's an amazing thing to have as a gift because I always knew I was loved. Even when it was a ferocious face or an angry face, it was so full and told so many stories that I always felt the love coming from her."
Ladd's "open, honest face" contributed to her decades-long acting career, during which she starred in over 200 movies and TV shows.
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Over the course of her career, Ladd was nominated for an Academy Award three times for her roles in 1974's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, 1990's Wild at Heart, and 1991's Rambling Rose.
She additionally earned three Primetime Emmy award nominations and four Golden Globe nominations, of which she took home one for the sitcom Alice.
Ladd married ex-husband Bruce Dern in 1960. They welcomed their second daughter, Laura, in 1967, before they split in 1969. She was married to her second husband, William A. Shea Jr., from 1969 to 1977.
The actress married her third husband, Robert Charles Hunter, in 1999 and remained married to him until his death earlier this year.
