▶ Watch Video: From the archives: Diane Ladd and Laura Dern
Diane Ladd, the actress known for her Oscar-nominated roles in “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Wild at Heart” and “Rambling Rose,” has died, her representative confirmed to CBS News on Monday. She was 89.
Her daughter, Laura Dern, said in a statement that she was by Ladd’s side when she passed at her home in Ojai, California.
“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern said. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”
Dern’s statement didn’t immediately cite a cause of death.
In 2023, the mother and daughter told “CBS Sunday Morning” that the two began taking daily walks in Santa Monica after learning that Ladd had developed a lung disease, believed to be caused by exposure to pesticides. Dern was told her mother only had six months to live.
That’s when the two had conversations that eventually filled the pages of “Honey, Baby, Mine,” their joint memoir named for an old folk song Ladd’s father used to sing. They discussed everything, starting with Ladd’s marriage and divorce from Laura’s father, actor Bruce Dern, to her efforts to discourage Laura from joining the family business.
“She was only, like, 11 years old, and I said, ‘Don’t be an actress. Be a doctor, be a lawyer,'” said Ladd. “Nobody cares if you put on weight or your chin points when you cry if you’re a doctor. They just want you to be the best you can be. But an actress? They care, care, care, care, care.”
But Dern said there was no stopping her from being in movies: “No. It is all I knew.”