Laura Dern Reflects on Her Parents Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern as Her Inspiration and Support After Her Mother’s Passing

Laura Dern; Diane Ladd; Bruce Dern.
Credit :

Scott Kirkland/Disney via Getty; Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty; Araya Doheny/Getty

NEED TO KNOW

• Laura Dern discussed her parents, Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, for the first time since Ladd’s passing at 89 on Nov. 3.
• “I’ve never done an interview without talking about my parents, and that will be the case for the rest of my life,” she stated.
• Laura paid tribute to her mother on Instagram on Nov. 29, marking what would have been Ladd’s 90th birthday.

Laura Dern opened up about her parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd one month after the death of her mother, who passed away on November 3 at the age of 89.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times published on December 10, Dern, 58, reflected on her mother’s death while promoting her new films Is This Thing On? and Jay Kelly.

“I thought, ‘This is going to be hard because I’m going to have to talk about my parents,’” she said, contemplating the challenges of continuing with promotional activities. “Then I thought, ‘They are my muses, my guides, my teachers. I’ve never done an interview without talking about my parents, and that will be the case for the rest of my life.’”

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.

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In a heartfelt statement announcing Ladd’s death, shared on November 3, Laura wrote, “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 further described her mother as “the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.” Laura concluded, “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

On November 17, a death certificate obtained by PEOPLE confirmed that Ladd’s cause of death was acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure. The document indicated that she was cremated on November 10.

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd.

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Diane Ladd, known for her roles in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose, shared the screen with Laura starting in 1974 when Laura made an appearance as an extra in Ladd’s film. Together, they starred in several notable productions, including Citizen Ruth.

In 2023, Laura and Ladd collaborated on the memoir Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding). This project was inspired by their conversations following Ladd’s diagnosis in 2018 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a serious lung disease. Laura remarked that “all the deep listening filled us with love, and it was very healing.”

Diane Ladd, Laura Dern and Bruce Dern on Nov. 19, 2014.

Barry King/FilmMagic

On November 29, Laura shared a tribute to her mother on Instagram, commemorating what would have been Ladd’s 90th birthday. In her post, she wrote, “Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known,” reflecting on her mother’s legacy as an artist and a compassionate human being.