Laura Dern Honors Late Mother Diane Ladd on Her 90th Birthday

Acclaimed actress Laura Dern recently commemorated what would have been the 90th birthday of her beloved late mother, Diane Ladd.

“Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known, on what would be her 90th today,” Dern, 58, expressed on Instagram this past Saturday, November 29. She continued, “As an artist and human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, and ever in service for all.”

Her heartfelt message concluded, “I love you, Mom.”

Accompanying the touching homage, Dern posted a vintage black-and-white photograph of Ladd striking a pose for the camera.

Previously, Laura Dern Had Shared That Her Mother, Diane Ladd, Was Given a Prognosis of Six Months to Live

The news of Ladd’s passing at the age of 89 first emerged on November 3. At that time, Dern released a statement honoring her mother through The Hollywood Reporter.

“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, California,” Dern conveyed in her announcement, confirming the sad news of her mother’s demise. “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 official cause of Ladd’s death was subsequently identified as acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, according to a death certificate procured by People magazine on November 17. Contributing factors to her passing encompassed an interstitial lung disease, a condition she had been battling for an extended period, and esophageal dysmotility. The publication further noted that Ladd’s cremation took place on November 10.

Subsequent to Ladd’s passing, Bruce Dern, Laura’s father, paid tribute to his former spouse. (Ladd and Bruce were wed from 1960 to 1969. Beyond Laura, the couple also shared a daughter, Diane, who tragically died at 18 months old in a drowning incident in 1962.)

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“Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch,” Bruce, 89, shared in a statement provided to Us Weekly on November 3. “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,” Bruce further commented. “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.”

Following her union with Bruce, Ladd was wed to William A. Shea Jr from 1969 to 1977, then later married Robert Charles Hunter in 1999. Hunter himself passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, while visiting his children, just months prior to Ladd’s death. His family confirmed his passing to The Hollywood Reporter in August. He was 77 years old at the time.

In their tribute to Hunter, his family remarked in a statement that his literary works, the 2008 book Curious Journey: Origins and 2011’s Curious Journey: Energy, “tapped into his intellect and curiosity about the world.”

“Robert always loved Texas,” the family’s statement further conveyed. “The wide skies, the bold spirit and the warmth of Fort Worth were part of his soul. Returning home brought him peace and joy — a feeling he often described as ‘like coming back to the rhythm of my heart.’”