Laura Dern Honors Late Mom Diane Ladd on 1st Anniversary of Death

Laura Dern is remembering her mother, Diane Ladd, one year after her death.

On Tuesday, Nov. 3, the first anniversary of Ladd's passing, the Oscar-winning actress shared a heartfelt tribute on Instagram. She posted a vintage black-and-white portrait of her mom from her younger days, marked with the dates "November 29, 1935 - November 3, 2025."

Dern kept her caption short and sweet, writing just four words: "Light of my life."

Laura Dern's Instagram tribute to her mother, Diane Ladd, on the first anniversary of her death.

A year without her “hero”

Ladd died on Monday, Nov. 3, 2025, at her home in Ojai, California. She was 89, just a few weeks shy of her 90th birthday. Dern was by her side.

At the time, Dern shared the news in a moving statement, calling Ladd her "amazing hero" and a "profound gift of a mother," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

"We were blessed to have her," Dern said, according to CBS News. "She is flying with her angels now."

No cause of death was given at the time. Two weeks later, People reported that Ladd's death certificate listed acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, with interstitial lung disease and esophageal dysmotility as contributing conditions.

Honoring what would have been her 90th birthday

Dern has kept her mother's memory close all year long.

On Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025, what would have been Ladd's 90th birthday, Dern posted another emotional tribute on Instagram, sharing a black-and-white photo of her mother.

"Happy birthday to my hero, the most extraordinary person I have ever known, on what would be her 90th today," she wrote. "As an artist and human being, you were always loving, always dreaming, always creating, and ever in service for all."

Laura Dern's Instagram tribute on what would have been Diane Ladd's 90th birthday.

Raising awareness in her mom's name

Dern has also turned her grief into advocacy. Ladd was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, or IPF, in 2018, according to People, and Dern has worked to raise awareness about the lung disease.

Around the same time as her anniversary tribute, Dern shared a post about IPF awareness on Instagram. She wrote that she "happily stepped into the role of caregiver" after the diagnosis and added, "I made a promise to her that I would continue to raise awareness about IPF," according to People.

In a January interview with People, she explained why the cause matters so much to her family. "She never wanted anyone to have to naively be in pain without answers," Dern said of her mother.

A legendary Hollywood career

Ladd built a career that spanned decades of film and television.

Her big breakthrough came with Martin Scorsese's 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, in which she played the waitress Flo. The role earned her an Oscar nomination for best supporting actress. She later joined the TV sitcom Alice, which was based on the film, playing a new character, Belle Dupree.

She went on to earn two more supporting actress Oscar nominations, for David Lynch's Wild at Heart in 1990 and for Rambling Rose in 1991. In total, she received three Oscar nominations and three Emmy nominations, according to People.

Her long list of credits also includes Chinatown, National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Primary Colors, 28 Days and The World's Fastest Indian. On TV, she appeared on shows including ER and Touched by an Angel.

Along the way, she picked up major honors outside of the Oscars. She won a BAFTA Award for her work in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, and a Golden Globe for playing Belle on the sitcom Alice. She also stepped behind the camera, directing and starring in the 1995 film Mrs. Munck.

A proud Southerner, Ladd was born in Mississippi, a fact her friend Reese Witherspoon highlighted in her own tribute after Ladd's death.

A mother-daughter pair made Oscar history

Ladd and Dern shared a rare bond on screen as well as off.

Dern made a small cameo appearance as a child in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. Years later, the two starred together in Rambling Rose, with Ladd nominated for best supporting actress and Dern for best actress. They were the first mother and daughter nominated for the same film, according to CBS News.

The pair teamed up again on HBO's Enlightened, where Ladd played the mother of Dern's character, Amy Jellicoe.

Dern went on to win her own Oscar for best supporting actress for 2019's Marriage Story, along with an Emmy for her role as Renata Klein on Big Little Lies.

“Honey, Baby, Mine”

In 2023, Dern and Ladd published a joint memoir, Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding), built around conversations the two shared. The book takes its title from an old folk song Ladd's father used to sing, according to CBS News.

The memoir gave fans an intimate look at their relationship, covering their conversations about family, love and Ladd's remarkable career.

The book was born out of a scary time. Speaking to Today host Hoda Kotb in April 2023, Dern explained that her mother had been exposed to pesticide spraying in her neighborhood without being notified, and that she later found scarring on her lungs. In 2019, Dern said, they were told Ladd had about six months to live.

Doctors suggested walking to help expand her lung capacity, so mother and daughter started taking walks together at the beginning of 2019. Dern recorded their conversations on those walks, and they became the basis for the book.

Ladd went on to live for years beyond that early prognosis and kept working, including appearances on Young Sheldon and Chesapeake Shores.

Ladd was married to actor Bruce Dern, Laura's father, from 1960 to 1969. Laura was born on Feb. 10, 1967, during their marriage. After Ladd's death, Bruce Dern told Us Weekly that Ladd was "a tremendous actress" and "a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter."

Reese Witherspoon's “Other Mother”

Ladd's warmth touched many people in Hollywood, including Dern's close friend and Big Little Lies costar Reese Witherspoon.

After Ladd's death, Witherspoon shared her own tribute on Instagram. "Oh Diane! What a beautiful spirit, filled with light, childlike creativity, and boundless ideas," she wrote.

"A born & bred storyteller from Mississippi, your golden voice made every small moment feel like a remembered dream," Witherspoon continued. "You were my inspiration and my Other Mother."

She ended her message with a final goodbye: "May all your angels welcome you home into a place of love & light. Til we meet again."

Reese Witherspoon's Instagram tribute to Diane Ladd.

Read more: Gates McFadden remembers Patrick Stewart in a moving Star Trek tribute

Forever her “light”

A year after losing her mother, Dern's message was simple, but it said everything.

Ladd's legacy lives on through her films, her book and her family, including Dern's children, Ellery and Jaya.

From their scenes together on screen to the conversations that became a book, Ladd and Dern shared a bond that lasted a lifetime.

Dern's caption said it all: "Light of my life."