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14 Jan 2026 12:01
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  •   Home > News > Entertainment

    Laura Dern has paid tribute to her "hero" mom Diane Ladd on what would have been her 90th birthday

    The Oscar-nominated actress passed away at her California home on 3 November at the age of 89 and now her daughter has shared a poignant tribute on the day she would have celebrated turning 90 on November 29.


    In a post on Instagram, Laura shared a black and white picture of Diane and wrote: "Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known, on what would be her 90th today.

    "As an artist and human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, and ever in service for all. I love you, Mom."

    Laura announced Diane's death last month by her daughter by sharing an emotional statement which read: "My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Ca.

    "She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created.

    "We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now."

    The Jurassic Park star's father, Bruce Dern - who was married to Diane between 1960 and 1969 - later praised his "wonderful" former spouse in a touching statement.

    He said: "Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a 'hidden treasure' until she ran into David Lynch. When he cast her as Laura's mom in Wild at Heart it felt like the world then really understood her brilliance.

    "She was a great value as a decades-long board member of SAG, giving a real actress' point of view.

    "She lived a good life. She saw everything the way it was. She was a great teammate to her fellow actors. She was funny, clever, gracious.

    "But most importantly to me, she was a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter. And for that I will be forever grateful to her."

    After Diane's passing, it was later confirmed the actress died from acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, which occurs when there isn't enough oxygen in the blood, often due to a lung condition.

    According to the death certificate obtained by People magazine, the document noted Diane had also had interstatial lung disease for several years.

    In addition, oesophageal dysmotility was listed as another significant contributing condition to her death.

    © 2026 Bang Showbiz, NZCity

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