Laura Dern She is one of the most famous actresses of all time. Aside from uncredited roles in the early 1970s, he began acting regularly in 1980 and has appeared in a wide range of critically acclaimed films and popular box office hits, particularly his early hits such as blue velvet in 1986 and Jurassic Park in 1993. While Laura has been a beloved star for decades, she actually has many family members who have been in the entertainment industry in various ways. Your parents, Bruce Dern and Diana Ladd, They both worked as actors and she also has family members who have been in politics, highly successful businessmen and writers. All three actors have stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame very close together.
Laura, who is a mother of two, talked about how happy she was that her parents were artists in a 2014 interview with the guardian. “My parents, Dianne Ladd and Bruce Dern, are so real; they are who they are. The ’70s, when I was a child, were their time of great success. But there were no cameras following you around the market or paparazzi at your school,” she said. “They wanted to play complicated people and didn’t care about anything else, like glamour.”
Unfortunately, Diane died on November 3, 2025. Learn more about Laura’s parents here.
Bruce Dern
Laura’s father was married once before dating Diane. Bruce was briefly married to Marie Dawn Pierce from 1957 to 1959, before marrying Diane in 1960. The couple’s first daughter died at 18 months. When Laura was born in 1967, he was an established actor, with roles in a variety of television shows, such as Stoney Burke where he appeared in 17 episodes. He had also done some film work, including in films like wild river and Silence… Silence, sweet Charlotte.
Since the ’60s, Bruce has appeared in a wide range of films in which he has received critical acclaim, including the 1974 film. The Great Gatsby, which earned him a Golden Globe nomination. His performances in the 1978s. Coming back home and 2013 Nebraska It earned him Golden Globe and Oscar nominations. Bruce and Diana divorced in 1969 and remarried. Andrea Beckett that same year!
Laura has opened up about growing closer to her father as she gets older. She revealed that when she was younger, she felt her father was a little insecure as a parent in a 2013 interview with Marc Maron in it WTF podcast. “I think, as you can imagine, I didn’t really know what to do with a little person,” he explained. She also joked about how someone who had a play date’s father confronted her about a character her father played and killed. John Wayne in a 2013 Vulture interview.
Awkward playdates aside, she revealed what she learned from her father in that interview. “To stay true to what’s right for you. Stay true to your own voice and don’t worry about being liked or what other people think. Keep your eyes on your own newspaper,” she said of what she learned as an actress.
Diana Ladd
Like Bruce, Diane had also established herself as an actress with a variety of film and television roles in the late 1950s and 1960s before Laura was born. Over the years, Diane has appeared in several hit films such as Chinatown (1974) and National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation (1989), and received Oscar nominations for his roles in Alice doesn’t live here anymore (1974), wild heart (1990), and rambling rose (1991).
While Diane has been open about how she initially discouraged Laura from pursuing a career in acting, Laura’s first two uncredited roles were in her mother’s films. Alice and 1973 White Ray. Although Laura spent a lot of time with her father as a child, the actress explained that her mother was the child’s main caregiver. WTF interview. “I was definitely raised by my mom and my grandmother,” she said. After Diane and Bruce separated, she remarried. William Shea from 1969 to 1976 and Robert Hunter in 1999.
The mother-daughter duo co-starred in the television series. Illustrated, which ran from 2011 to 2013. Laura said some people didn’t realize that they weren’t just mother and daughter on TV, but in real life as well. “A lot of people have approached me without really knowing that we are mother and daughter, and it’s surprising that there are people who are fans of the show who don’t know it and enjoy the relationship so much,” she said in a CBS News interview.
Both actresses appeared together in several different projects, including Wandering rose, wild at heart, and citizen ruth. Likewise, Diane was thrilled to be able to work alongside her daughter on the show. “Working with someone you love is a great thing,” he told CBS News..
Laura announced on November 3, 2025 that Diane died at the age of 89.
“My incredible hero and profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, spent by my side this morning, at her home in Ojai, California,” Laura wrote in a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “She was the best daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have created. We were lucky to have her. Now she is flying with her angels.”
