Diane Ladd’s cause of death revealed weeks after legendary actress dies at 89: report

Diane Ladd’s cause of death has been revealed two weeks after the Academy Award-nominated actress passed away at the age of 89.

On Monday, People magazine obtained a death certificate that stated Ladd died from acute on chronic hypoxic respiratory failure.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, respiratory failure occurs when the lungs can’t properly exchange oxygen and carbon dioxide — and in “acute on chronic” cases, this means a sudden worsening of an existing long-term breathing problem.

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The conditions leading to the actress’s death included an interstitial lung disease that had been progressing for years, with esophageal dysmotility listed as another significant contributing factor. Interstitial lung disease is a long-term condition that causes lung scarring while esophageal dysmotility affects the movement of the esophagus.

Ladd was cremated on Nov. 10, per the death certificate.

On Nov. 3, Ladd’s daughter Laura Dern announced her mother’s death in a statement to Fox News Digital.

“My amazing hero and my profound gift of a mother passed with me beside her this morning at her home in Ojai, California,” Dern wrote.

“She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created,” Dern added. “We were blessed to have her. She is flying with her angels now.”

Fox News Digital has reached out to Dern’s representatives for comment. 

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Ladd was best known for starring in the movies “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore,” “Wild at Heart,” and “Rambling Rose,” all of which earned her Oscars nominations. Her other credits include television appearances on “Naked City,” “Perry Mason” and “Mr. Novak” and she was nominated for three Emmys.

The actress made her film debut in the 1966 movie “The Wild Angels,” starring alongside her then-husband, Bruce Dern, and longtime friend, Peter Fonda. She made her final film appearance in the coming-of-age drama “Gigi & Nate,” which was released in 2022.

Dern has starred in several films with her parents, but the first was alongside Ladd in the 1990 film “Wild at Heart.”

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Over the course of Ladd’s life, she was married three times. Her first marriage was to Bruce Dern in 1960. They welcomed two daughters, Diane and Laura. Diane tragically died in a swimming pool accident when she was 18 months old.

Following her divorce from Bruce, Ladd was married to William A. Shea Jr. from 1969 to 1976. She was married to Robert Charles Hunter from 1990 until his death earlier this year at 77.

In 2018, Ladd was diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, a life-threatening lung disease. After the diagnosis, Laura and Ladd began taking daily walks together while recording their conversations, which led to the creation of their joint memoir, “Honey, Baby, Mine: A Mother and Daughter Talk Life, Death, Love (and Banana Pudding).”

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Following Ladd’s death, Bruce, 89, paid tribute to his ex-wife in a statement to People magazine.

“Diane was a tremendous actress,” “The Hateful Eight” star said. “She lived a good life. She saw everything the way it was. She was a great teammate to her fellow actors. She was funny, clever, gracious.”

“But most importantly to me, she was a wonderful mother to our incredible wunderkind daughter,” he added. “And for that I will be forever grateful to her.”

In addition to Dern, Ladd is survived by her grandchildren Ellery Walker, 24, and Jaya Harper, 20. Dern shares Ellery and Jaya with her ex-husband, musician Ben Harper. 

Fox News Digital’s Louis Casiano Jr. and Janelle Ash contributed to this report.