Bio
Diane Ladd is an American actress, film director, producer and author who has appeared in numerous roles on television and feature films, including Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, Touched By An Angel, Ghosts of Mississippi, Primary Colors, 28 Days and American Cowslip.
She also starred as Helen in the comedy-drama television series Enlightened, from 2011-2013.
She is the mother of actress Laura Dern by ex-husband actor Bruce Dern.
Ladd is an actress, director, writer, author and producer, who has been nominated for three Emmys and three Academy Awards, and has won 27 international awards, including the British Academy Award, the Independent Spirit Award and the Eleanor Duse Award.
Diane also performed as a dancer, singer, and comedian.
Her first movie role in 1966 was Roger Corman's Wild Angels, in which she starred with her first husband, Bruce Dern. She has co-starred in many films including All Night Long, Roman Polanski's Chinatown, Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, for which Diane received her first Oscar nomination.
She was also in the holiday classic Christmas Vacation with Chevy Chase.
Ladd's second Oscar nomination was for the role of Marietta in David Lynch's Wild At Heart; her third nomination was for the film, Rambling Rose, in which she co-starred along with her daughter, Laura Dern. She and Laura were the first mother and daughter tandem ever to be nominated for the same motion picture.
Ladd has starred in more than 300 films and television shows including two series and Stephen King's fifteen hour mini-series, Kingdom Hospital. She was also seen in Lifetime's Montana Sky and the film The World's Fastest Indian.
Ladd made her directing and writing debut with the film, Mrs. Munck starring Bruce Dern, Kelly Preston, the late Shelley Winters and herself.
Ladd has written three books, Spiraling Through the School of Life, a book of short stories, A Bad Day for a Piece of Cake and Interrupted Destiny.
Ladd also co-authored a Broadway musical, Last of the Bad Girls, starring Lainie Kazan, Connie Stevens and herself.