Diane Ladd and Robert Charles Hunter married in 1999; Hunter died during a trip to Texas to visit his children on July 31
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Diane Ladd and Robert Charles Hunter in 2015.Credit : Nicholas Hunt/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
Actress Diane Ladd died at 89 on Monday, Nov. 3, just over three months after her husband Robert Charles Hunter died at 77
Ladd and Hunter, the former CEO of PepsiCo, married in 1999
Laddâs daughter Laura Dern, whom she shared with ex-husband Bruce Dern, announced her motherâs death on Nov. 3
News of Diane Laddâs death at 89 comes just three months after she and her family lost her husband Robert Charles Hunter, who died on July 31 at 77.
Laddâs daughter Laura Dern announced that her mother âpassed away with me beside her this morning, at her home in Ojai, Calif.,â in a statement on Monday, Nov. 3. âShe was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,â Dern, 58, whom Ladd shared with her ex-husband Bruce Dern, added. âWe were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.â
Laddâs husband Hunter, former CEO of PepsiCo Food Systems, died in Fort Worth, Texas while visiting his children, as The Hollywood Reporter reported in August.
Hunter and Ladd co-founded their production company Excel Entertainment in 1999, the same year they married. He made his one and only big screen appearance as a detective in David Lynchâs 2006 movie Inland Empire, which Dern and Ladd both starred in.
While Ladd never released a formal statement regarding Hunterâs death, she did share a screengrab of THRâs reporting of his passing to Instagram on Aug. 3.
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Diane Ladd and Robert Hunter in 2008.Jeffrey Mayer/WireImage
Laddâs marriage to Hunter was her third and her longest; she was first married to Lauraâs father Bruce, now 89, from 1960 to 1969. Following Laddâs split from Bruce, she was married to William A. Shea, Jr. from 1969 to 1976.
Dern and her motherâs relationship extended beyond familial; the two actresses costarred on the big screen in 1990âs Wild at Heart, 1991âs Rambling Rose, 1996âs Citizen Ruth and 2006âs Inland Empire, plus the HBO series Enlightened from 2011 to 2013.
Ladd amassed many movie and TV credits after launching her screen career in the 1970s. Nominated for three Oscars and three Emmys, she was known for Alice Doesnât Live Here Anymore (and the TV sitcom Alice, based on that 1974 film) and multiple collaborations with the late director David Lynch.
Ladd and her daughterâs kids Ellery Walker and Jaya Harper were at Dernâs side at the 2020 Academy Awards ceremony when she won the Supporting Actress Oscar for Marriage Story. âSome say ânever meet your heroesâ but I say if youâre really blessed, you get them as your parents,â said the Jurassic Park star in her acceptance speech. âI share this with my acting heroes, my legends, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern.â
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Robert Hunter and Diane Ladd in 2006.Fred Hayes/WireImage
Dern also shared back in 2018 that Ladd was hesitant about her daughter following in her parentsâ career footsteps. âI think the quote of my motherâs was, âBe a lawyer, be a doctor, be a leper missionary, but donât be an actress!ââ she said.
In 2023, Ladd and her daughter teamed up for a book, Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding) full of their intimate conversations. It was soon after Ladd had been diagnosed with a lung disease, called idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, that the mother-daughter duo began taking long walks together, they told PEOPLE.
At the time of Laddâs death, the actress had one film still in post-production: Blue Champagne, from writer-director Blaine Novak. The movie, which does not yet have a release date, also stars Jack Nicholsonâs daughter Jennifer Nicholson.
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