Diane Ladd triumphant seven-decade career ends at 89

Diane Ladd, the three-time Academy Award nominee whose iconic performances shaped both film and television over more than seven decades, has died at the age of 89 at her home in Ojai, California. Her daughter, Laura Dern, confirmed the passing and described Ladd as “my amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother,” saying she was at her side when she died.

Born Rose Diane Ladner in Laurel, Mississippi on 29 November 1935, Ladd was the only child of veterinarian Preston Paul Ladner and actress Mary Bernadette Ladner. She began her theatrical training in New Orleans and New York, moving from modeling and dancing at the Copacabana to acting in community theatre before her breakthrough in the 1970s.

Her film career took off in 1974 with her role as waitress Flo in Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, which earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress and established her as a standout presence in Hollywood. That same year she appeared in Roman Polanski’s Chinatown. Two decades later she would be nominated again for Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, the latter of which she co-starred in with her daughter—making them the only mother-daughter pair nominated for the same film in the same year.

Across her career, Ladd appeared in more than 120 films and television series. She navigated roles from the brash diner employee to the manipulative, damaged mother in David Lynch’s dream-scape world of Wild at Heart. Her television credits included the sitcom Alice, as well as ER, Touched by an Angel, Dr Quinn, Medicine Woman and HBO’s Enlightened.

Her personal life intersected with her professional one in meaningful ways. She married actor Bruce Dern in 1960; they had two daughters, Diane Elizabeth—who tragically died at 18 months old in a drowning accident—and Laura Elizabeth, born in 1967. The couple divorced in 1969. Later Ladd married William A. Shea Jr., and in 1999 she wed Robert Charles Hunter, a former CEO of PepsiCo Food Systems; Hunter died three months ahead of Ladd in August 2025.

Ladd’s journey included severe health challenges. In 2018 she was misdiagnosed and given just months to live after inhaling toxic farm spray; her daughter intervened with a hospital transfer that led to a full recovery. She chronicled this ordeal in a joint 2023 memoir with Laura, exploring themes of mortality, healing and the mother-daughter bond.

Peers and collaborators recognised Ladd’s versatility and longevity. Bruce Dern paid tribute to her artistry and parenting, calling her “a tremendous actress and a wonderful mother to our incredible daughter.” Beyond awards and recognitions, her body of work earned her a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame—beside those of Bruce Dern and Laura Dern—marking a rare family grouping in entertainment history.

Ladd’s legacy is anchored in performances that fused toughness with vulnerability, screen presence with emotional depth. Whether playing Flo’s grit, Marietta’s unsettling intensity or supporting roles across eras, she brought unmistakable energy to each project. As Oscar nominations and Emmy nods attest, she built a career that spanned genre, medium and generation—while mentoring, supporting and performing alongside her daughter.