Hollywood Mourns the Loss of a Legend: Diane Ladd Dies at 89

Hollywood is saying goodbye to one of its most cherished talents. Oscar-nominated actress Diane Ladd passed away at her home in Ojai, California, on November 3, her daughter Laura Dern confirmed. She was 89.

“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning,” Laura said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter. “She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist, and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have created. We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Born in Mississippi, Diane discovered her passion for acting at a young age. Her breakthrough came with Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), which earned her the first of three Academy Award nominations. She went on to receive additional nominations for Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, and also won a Golden Globe Award for her performance in the sitcom Alice.

Throughout her remarkable five-decade career, Diane became known for her soulful performances and deep emotional range — a hallmark that defined her legacy in both film and television.

In her personal life, Diane shared the screen — and a profound bond — with her daughter Laura Dern, who often appeared alongside her from childhood. Their most recent collaboration came in HBO’s acclaimed series Enlightened(2011–2013), where Diane once again portrayed Laura’s on-screen mother.

Diane had two daughters with her first husband, actor Bruce Dern: Laura and Diane Elizabeth Dern, who tragically passed away at just 18 months old in 1962. After her divorce from Dern in 1969, she married William A. Shea Jr., with whom she shared seven years of marriage, and later Robert Charles Hunter, her husband from 1999 until his passing in July 2025.

In 2018, Diane revealed she had been diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a chronic lung disease believed to have been caused by pesticide exposure near her home. Despite being given only months to live, Diane defied the odds — and transformed her struggle into art. Together with Laura, she co-wrote the deeply personal memoir Honey, Baby, Mine, a collection of conversations and reflections that became a testament to their unbreakable bond.

“We told each other everything,” Laura shared in a 2023 interview on Today. “She said that releasing the grief, heartbreak, and even the silly moments we’d gone through was so healing — both physically and emotionally.”

For Laura, the experience also offered a new perspective on her mother’s life:
“I realized how little I had actually asked her,” she said. “Even simple things, like what inspired her to become an actress growing up in a small town in Mississippi.”

Those intimate talks gave both women peace in Diane’s final years.
“She said, ‘I’m not afraid of it,’” Laura recalled. “She wasn’t afraid of death — she was afraid of leaving us, of missing her grandchildren grow up. But by talking about it, she found acceptance. She told me, ‘If they hadn’t said I might be dying, I may never have said it all.’”