How many times was Diane Ladd married? All about ex-husbands as Oscar nominated star dies

Actress Diane Ladd died at the age of 89 at her home in Ojai, California. Her daughter, Laura Denn, announced her death in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter on November 3.

"My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Calif. 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," Dern said.

Diane Ladd, a three-time Oscar-nominated actress and Laura Dern's mother, has died at 89 years old.

“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother, Diane Ladd, passed with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Ca. She was the greatest daughter, mother,… pic.twitter.com/WhfZeYxrOE

— Variety (@Variety) November 3, 2025

Diane Ladd, who had been married three times, welcomed Laura with her first husband, Bruce Dern. According to People Magazine, the couple met while working on an off-Broadway production of Orpheus Descending and later married in 1960.

"Bruce had already been married and divorced when he met me. He came to play Orpheus, and Orpheus descended. I married Bruce when I was very, very young," Diane told the Los Angeles Times.

Before welcoming Laura in February 1967, Ladd gave birth to Diane Elizabeth Dern, who tragically died in a drowning accident in May 1962 at 18 months.

The couple eventually divorced in 1969. In a 1992 interview with Parade, Diane shared that her daughter's passing "bruised" them as a couple.

"We suffered the tragedy of our daughter's death together and thought another child would help us, but we were so bruised," Diane said.

She continued:

"I was terrified, being on my own with Laura. I had to force myself not to be overly protective because I had lost one child. The result was that it worked the other way. I allowed her to be a free thinker, and that helped her become her own person."

Ladd married her second husband, William A. Shea Jr., the same year she was divorced from Bruce. However, they split in 1977.

Speaking about her divorce from both men in an interview with The New York Times, Diane said:

"I married two men, Bruce and Bill, neither of which know how to show love, and I come from the South and from a man, my father, who gave me rocking‐chair love. My people pass love around, and why I selected two men who needed someone to give love and didn’t know how to give it ... I hope I won’t repeat that again."

Diane tied the knot again with former PepsiCo CEO Robert Charles Hunter in 1999, who died on July 31, 2025, at the age of 77. Hunter reportedly died in Fort Worth, Texas, while visiting his children, per The Hollywood Reporter.

Diane Ladd's diagnosis with Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Farewell to the talented and versatile actress Diane Ladd, who showed remarkable range in her three Oscar-nominated performances in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, and Rambling Rose. My thoughts go out to her friends and family, especially her daughter Laura Dern. pic.twitter.com/ed7YrBLvrS

— Brian Rowe (@mrbrianrowe) November 3, 2025

Diane Ladd published a joint memoir with her daughter, Laura, in 2023, titled Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding), after Ladd was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a progressive lung disease, in 2018.

Speaking to People Magazine, Diane shared that she and Laura began taking walks that "resulted in us having the deepest, most honest and even the funniest conversations of our lives together" after her diagnosis.

"This book is the result of not waiting to share it all and has brought us closer than ever," she added.

Diane, who is known for her roles in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, Wild at Heart, Rambling Rose, Naked City, and Perry Mason, among others, also released two books, Spiraling Through the School of Life: A Mental, Physical and Spiritual Discovery in 2006, and A Bad Afternoon for a Piece of Cake in 2016.