- Had two daughters with ex-husband Bruce Dern. Her first daughter, Diane Elizabeth Dern was born on November 27, 1960, tragically died at the age of 17 1/2 months after accidentally falling into the family pool and hitting her head causing a massive brain hemorrhage, years before second daughter, Laura Dern, was born in 1967.
- Has played mother to real-life daughter Laura Dern five times: White Lightning (1973), Wild at Heart (1990), Citizen Ruth (1996), Daddy and Them (2001) and the television series Enlightened (2011).
- Has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress three times (Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), Wild at Heart (1990) and Rambling Rose (1991)). All three movies also starred her daughter Laura Dern.
- A Ministerial Consultant with a certificate in Nutrition and a Masters in Esoteric Psychology.
- Was a chorus girl at New York City's Copacabana in the 1950s.
- Gave birth to her second child at age 31, a daughter Laura Elizabeth Dern aka Laura Dern on February 10, 1967. Child's father is her ex-husband, Bruce Dern.
- Appeared in the film Carnosaur (1993), the same year that her daughter, Laura Dern, appeared in another dinosaur film, Jurassic Park (1993).
- Her mother was of half German and half Norwegian ancestry. Her father, who was from a family with deep roots in the American South, had English, as well as distant French and Swiss, ancestry. She is a distant cousin of playwright Tennessee Williams.
- (November 1, 2010) Awarded a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6270 Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, California.
- Became a grandmother for the second time at age 68 when her daughter Laura Dern gave birth to her daughter Jaya Harper, with [now ex] husband Ben Harper, on November 28, 2004.
- Became a grandmother for the first time at age 65 when her daughter Laura Dern gave birth to her son Ellery Walker Harper, with [now ex] husband Ben Harper, on August 10, 2001.
- Gave birth to her first child at age 25, a daughter Diane Elizabeth Dern on November 27, 1960. She died on May 18, 1962. Child's father was her ex-husband Bruce Dern.
- Former mother-in-law of musician Ben Harper.
- Studied at the Actor's Studio in New York.
- Only child of Mary Bernadette Ladner, (née Anderson), a housewife and actress, and Preston Paul Ladner, a veterinarian who sold products for poultry and livestock.
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content