Laura Dern’s Father Bruce Dern Breaks Silence on Ex-Wife Diane Ladd’s Death

Laura Dern’s father, Bruce Dern, is paying tribute to his late ex-wife, Diane Ladd.

“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 Monday, 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.”

Earlier in the day, Laura confirmed in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter that Ladd had died at her home in Ojai, California. She was 89. Her cause of death has yet to be revealed.

“She lived a good life,” Bruce shared in his statement. “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.”

Bruce and Ladd were married from 1960 to 1969. The former couple also shared a daughter named Diane, who died at 18 months after a drowning accident in 1962.

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