More information has come to light regarding the passing of Diane Ladd at the age of 89.
According to a death certificate obtained by People on Monday, November 17, the Academy Award nominee’s cause of death was determined to be acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure. Among the conditions that contributed to Ladd’s passing were an interstitial lung disease, which she had been battling for several years, and esophageal dysmotility, which was listed as an additional contributing factor.
The outlet reported that Ladd was cremated on November 10.
The news of Ladd’s death was first reported on November 3, when her daughter, actress Laura Dern, honored her mother with a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter.
Dern, 58, wrote 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. 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.”
Following her death, Laura’s father and Ladd’s former husband, Bruce Dern, paid tribute to the actress.
In a statement to Us Weekly on November 3, Bruce, 89, said, “Diane was a tremendous actress and I feel like, a bit of a ‘hidden treasure’ until she ran into David Lynch. 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.”
Bruce added, “She lived a good life. 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.”
In addition to Laura, the former couple also shared the late daughter Diane, who tragically passed away at 18 months old following a drowning accident in 1962. After their divorce in 1969, Ladd went on to marry William A. Shea Jr. from 1969 to 1977 before marrying Robert Charles Hunter in 1999. The couple remained married for over two decades until his passing earlier this year.
Hunter, who previously served as the CEO of PepsiCo Food Systems, passed away in Fort Worth, Texas, while visiting his children, as confirmed by his family to The Hollywood Reporter in August. He was 77 years old at the time of his death.
Years prior to Ladd’s passing, Laura revealed that her mother had been given a six-month prognosis following a health scare involving her lungs in 2019.
During an appearance on Today in April 2023, Laura explained, “She was exposed to pesticides being sprayed in the neighborhood and was not notified and realized that she had scarring on her lungs. And they said, ‘If you can get her walking, expand her lung capacity, maybe it will help.’”
To aid in her recovery, Ladd and Laura would go for walks and record conversations for the Big Little Lies star’s children to listen to in the future.
Laura continued, “It was the beginning of 2019 that we started these walks, and they said, ‘Your mother will never be here in six months.’ But from walking and not believing, as my mom said to [Hoda Kotb], ‘They say they’re practicing medicine, so I’m not going to believe one doctor, I’m going to go to several and I’m going to keep fighting with alternative modalities and my daughter and I’s love for each other.’”
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