Laura Dern Marks Mom Diane Ladd’s 90th Birthday Weeks After Death

Laura Dern is thinking of her late mom, Diane Ladd, on what would have been her 90th birthday.
“Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known, on what would be her 90th today,” Dern, 58, wrote via Instagram on Saturday, November 29. “As an artist and human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, and ever in service for all.”
She concluded, “I love you, Mom.”
Alongside the tribute, Dern shared a black-and-white throwback photo of Ladd posing for the camera.
News broke on November 3 that Ladd had died at age 89. Dern honored her mother via a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter at the time.
“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 wrote at the time, confirming her mother’s death. “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.”
Ladd’s cause of death was later ruled as acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, per a death certificate obtained by People on November 17. The conditions leading to Ladd’s death included an interstitial lung disease, which had been occurring for years. Esophageal dysmotility was also listed as another contributing factor. The outlet reported that Ladd was cremated on November 10.
Following Ladd’s death, Laura’s father, Bruce Dern, honored his ex-wife. (Ladd and Bruce were married from 1960 to 1969. In addition to Laura, the exes also shared late daughter Diane, who died at 18 months after a drowning accident in 1962.)
“Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch,” Bruce, 89, said in a statement 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 continued. “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 her marriage to Bruce, Ladd was married to William A. Shea Jr from 1969 to 1977 before tying the knot with Robert Charles Hunter in 1999. Months before Ladd’s death, Hunter died in Fort Worth, Texas, while visiting his children. His family confirmed the news to The Hollywood Reporter in August. He was 77 at the time of his death.
While honoring Hunter, his family noted in a statement that his 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 statement read. “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.’”