Diann Ladd, the actress with a 70-year career behind her, has passed away. Ladd was a three-time Academy Award nominee for Best Supporting Actress and the mother of Oscar-winning actress Laura Dern. Dern released a statement on her mother's death, saying that she is now "flying high with the angels."
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"My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, Calif.," Dern shared on Monday. "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."
Ladd was a great inspiration to her daughter, who published a joint memoir with the actress in 2023 titled Honey, Baby, Mine. The book was inspired by conversations the mother-daughter duo shared after Ladd was diagnosed with IPF.
Ladd struggled with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), a life threatening lung condition in her final years. When she received her diagnosis in 2018, she was told she would only have about 6 months to a year left to live. The advice she received from her doctors was to "walk to breathe deeper," which ultimately inspired her memoir with Dern.
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Dern described her mother in the memoir as "the most open, honest face..." She shared of Ladd, "I always knew I was loved. Even when it was a ferocious face or an angry face, it was so full and told so many stories that I always felt the love coming from her." She also described Ladd as having a career that was "ever-surprising."
Ladd first started acting in the late 1950s, with her first known TV appearance being the series Decoy in 1957. In 1961, she made her film debut with the movie Something Wild. In 1975, 1991, and 1992, Ladd was nominated for Best Supporting Actress for her work in various films.
Her third time being nominated for this award, she made history alongside Laura Dern as the first mother-daughter duo to be nominated for the same film. This was the film Rambling Rose, which they starred in together. Dern was nominated for Best Actress.
Photo By: Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
