Oscar nominee Diane Ladd's cause of death has been revealed, two weeks after the passing of the Hollywood star.
Ladd, who is also Laura Dern's mother, died on November 3 at the age of 89, from acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure, according to the death certificate obtained by People magazine.
The condition is described as a sudden event which makes a pre-existing chronic respiratory condition worse, resulting in the blood oxygen level becoming dangerously low.
Dern announced Ladd's death in a statement, labelling the actress her "amazing hero" and "profound gift of a mother".
The Big Little Lies star was by her mum's side when she died 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," Dern wrote.
"We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now."
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The three-time Academy Award nominee is most famous for her breakthrough performance in Martin Scorsese's 1974 film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, which earned her first Oscar nomination.
The star of stage and screen also scored nods for Wild at Heart in 1990 and Rambling Rose in 1991 – both films in which she co-starred with her daughter.
Ladd and Dern achieved the rare feat of mother-and-daughter nominees for their work in Rambling Rose and they also were memorably paired in David Lynch's Wild at Heart, a personal favourite of Ladd's and winner of the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival.
Through marriage and blood relations, Ladd was tied to the arts.
Tennessee Williams was a second cousin and first husband Bruce Dern, Laura's father, was himself an Academy Award nominee.
A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Ladd was born Rose Diane Ladner and was apparently destined to stand out.
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In her 2006 memoir, Spiraling Through the School of Life, she remembered being told by her great-grandmother that she would one day in "front of a screen" and would "command" her own audiences.
Before Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, she had been working in television since the 1950s, when she was in her early 20s, with shows including Perry Mason, Gunsmoke and The Big Valley.
- Reported with Associated Press.
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Title: Diane Ladd's cause of death revealed two weeks after Oscar nominee died
Sourced From: celebrity.nine.com.au/latest/diane-ladd-death-oscar-nominee-laura-dern-mum-cause-of-death-revealed/9bc12799-a982-4e7f-ad39-8584eecd6501
Published Date: Mon, 17 Nov 2025 23:11:00 GMT
