Diane Ladd, three-time Oscar nominee and mom to Laura Dern, dies at 89

Diane Ladd, the triple Oscar-nominated histrion who received acclaim for her enactment successful films including “Rambling Rose,” “Wild astatine Heart” and “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” has died. She was 89.

Oscar victor Laura Dern, Ladd’s girl with Oscar-nominated histrion Bruce Dern, announced her mother’s decease successful a connection shared Monday. “My astonishing leader and my profound acquisition of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with maine beside her this morning, astatine her location successful Ojai,” Dern wrote. A origin of decease was not revealed.

“She was the top daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, creator and empathetic tone that lone dreams could person seemingly created,” Dern, 58, said successful her statement. “We were blessed to person her.”

Mississippi autochthonal Ladd was a versatile and enduring endowment whose surface vocation included much than 200 movie and TV credits from the 1960s to the 2020s and aggregate Emmy and Oscar nominations. Famously, she appeared successful manager Martin Scorsese and writer Robert Getchell’s 1974 diagnostic “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” arsenic snarky roadside-diner waitress Florence Jean “Flo” Castleberry.

She elevated her broadside quality into truthful overmuch more, earning a supporting histrion Oscar information for the relation and inspiring iterations of the witty waitress successful TV adaptations “Alice” and its spinoff, “Flo,” starring Polly Holliday. She appeared successful the erstwhile arsenic Isabelle “Belle” Dupree.

Ladd often thrived successful supporting roles, earning Oscar nominations successful that class for her enactment successful “Wild astatine Heart” and “Rambling Rose,” successful 1991 and 1992, respectively. Though she was nary alien to stealing the spotlight, she besides had a knack for sharing it with girl Laura Dern successful respective films.

Ladd and her daughter, who was calved successful 1967, co-starred successful “Rambling Rose,” “Citizen Ruth” and precocious filmmaker David Lynch’s “Wild astatine Heart” and “Inland Empire.” The mother-daughter duo besides appeared successful HBO’s “Enlightened.”

Bruce Dern, 89 and the archetypal of Ladd’s 3 husbands, said successful a connection that she was a “tremendous” histrion but had been a “a spot of a ‘hidden treasure’” until she starred alongside her girl successful Lynch’s “Wild astatine Heart” arsenic her mother. “It felt similar the satellite past truly understood her brilliance,” the elder Dern said.

“She was a large worth arsenic a decades-long committee subordinate of SAG, giving a existent actress’ constituent of view,” helium continued. “She lived a bully life. She saw everything the mode it was. She was a large teammate to her chap actors. She was funny, clever, gracious.

“But astir importantly to me, she was a fantastic parent to our unthinkable wunderkind daughter. And for that I volition beryllium everlastingly grateful to her.”

Laura Dern has openly embraced her family’s Hollywood lineage. At the Palm Springs International Film Festival successful 2020, the “Blue Velvet” prima told attendees that her begetter and Ladd — who were joined from 1960 to 1969 — conceived her successful the adjacent upland municipality of Idyllwild during accumulation of the 1966 Roger Corman biker movie “The Wild Angels,” Ladd’s breakout film.

Throughout her career, Ladd collaborated with notable filmmakers, among them Roman Polanski, connected “Chinatown”; Rob Reiner, for “Ghosts of Mississippi”; and David O. Russell, connected “Joy.” Her movie credits see “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation,” “Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me” and “Cemetery Club,” among others. She directed Bruce Dern successful her directorial debut, “Mrs. Munck,” successful 1995.

Ladd enjoyed a lengthy movie career, but her tv vocation was acold much expansive, with roles successful shows arsenic varied arsenic “Gunsmoke,” “Alice,” “ER,” “Ray Donovan” and “Young Sheldon.” In 1980, she earned a Golden Globe Award for her enactment successful “Alice,” and from 1993 to 1997, she earned 3 impermanent histrion Primetime Emmy nominations for “Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman,” “Grace Under Fire” and “Touched by an Angel.”

Rose Diane Lanier was calved Nov. 29, 1935, to a veterinarian begetter and housewife mother. She began performing arsenic a kid and sang with French Quarter set Dixie Hi De Ho Jo portion attending a finishing schoolhouse successful New Orleans, according to her website. After turning down a assistance to survey instrumentality astatine Louisiana State University, she pursued entertainment, performing with a troupe created by John Carradine, begetter of “Kill Bill” prima David Carradine.

Ladd went connected to execute astatine New York’s Copacabana and took roles successful assorted signifier productions, including “Noisy Passengers” with Robert De Niro and “Woman Speak” with Jane Fonda, according to her website.

SAG-AFTRA connected Monday honored Ladd for her decades of work to the performers union, including her crook connected the SAG National Board. She joined SAG and AFTRA successful 1956, good earlier the 2 guilds merged successful 2012. The histrion received the Ralph Morgan Award for her work successful 2025.

“I had the privilege of serving with her connected our National Board, and I’m grateful for the time, penetration and dedication she brought to each treatment and initiative,” SAG-AFTRA President Sean Astin said successful a statement. “Her bequest endures done her bonzer assemblage of enactment and done the countless ways she strengthened our national and the manufacture for generations to come.”

After her matrimony to Bruce Dern ended, Ladd joined William A. Shea Jr. They divorced successful 1977. She got joined for a 3rd clip successful 1999 to Robert Hunter, who died earlier this year. In summation to “Little Women” and “Big Little Lies” prima Dern, Ladd and Bruce Dern were parents to a 2nd daughter, Diane Elizabeth, who was calved successful 1961 but died astatine 18 months successful a drowning incident.

Of her mother, Laura Dern said Monday: “She is flying with her angels now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.