Diane Ladd(1935-2025)

Actress
Producer
Director

Diane Ladd at an event for I Dream Too Much (2015)

Coming home from his last deployment, Sgt. Major John Frost arrives a month early due to a PTSD incident and is happy to be home for Christmas. He finds his wife, Jill and son Jimmy too busy to give him the welcome he anticipates. In his absence, they have adopted a dog - a little dog, Charlie, which is not his cup of tea. Jill, owner of Jill's cakes and bakes, has been struggling to pay the bills and has taken on too many holiday parties for her catering business, and forgets an important wedding. John finds solace with the fellow vets at the Moose Lodge until Hank, a retired Vietnam vet, is found by Charlie having suffered a heart attack and is then discovered to be homeless living in tented camp with Capt. Jack. John finds his purpose as he rallies friends, family and community to build a new house for the vets and give them a warm Christmas Eve and a new start on civilian life.

Play trailer1:42

Charlie's Christmas Wish (2020)

The amazingly gifted and versatile Ms. Diane Ladd received immense praise for her dramatic efforts throughout the course of her electric and unique seventy-year career. Her timeless offbeat charm and beauty reminiscent of a lamented Hollywood Golden Era actress gleam in the most understated roles and continue to make her a sought-after unconventional performer.

IMDbProStarmeter Top 5,000377

Nominated for 3 Oscars
- 11 wins & 12 nominations total

Photos76

+ 72

Known for

Wild at Heart

7.2

Marietta Fortune

1990

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

7.3

1974

Joy

6.6

Mimi

2015

Chinatown

8.1

Ida Sessions

1974

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

Isle of Hope
7.2
- Carmen
- 2022
Gigi & Nate
6.7
- Mama Blanche
- 2022
Chesapeake Shores
7.5
TV Series
- Nell O'Brien
- 2016–2022
Charming the Hearts of Men
6.3
- Alice Paul
- 2021
Young Sheldon
7.7
TV Series
- Hortense
- 2021
Charlie's Christmas Wish
4.8
- Nana
- 2020
Miracle in the Valley
5.9
- Grandma Mary
- 2019
The Last Full Measure
6.8
- Alice Pitsenbarger
- 2019
Christmas Lost and Found
6.1
TV Movie
- Grandma Frances
- 2018
Ray Donovan
8.3
TV Series
- Motel Lady
- 2016
AmeriGeddon
3.8
- Betty
- 2016
Sophie and the Rising Sun
6.7
- Ruth Jeffers
- 2016
Joy
6.6
- Mimi
- 2015
I Dream Too Much
5.2
- Vera
- 2015
Just Before I Go
6.4
- Mamma (uncredited)
- 2014

Producer

Director

In-development projects at IMDbPro

In Memoriam: Stars We Lost in 2025

We pay tribute to Diane Ladd, Diane Keaton, and more stars we lost this year.

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List

Videos39

The World's Fastest Indian

Personal details

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Official site
- Official Site
Alternative names
- Diane Lad
Height
- 5′ 7″ (1.70 m)
Born
- November 29, 1935
- Laurel, Mississippi, USA
Died
- November 3, 2025
- Ojai, California, USA(chronic hypoxic respiratory failure)
Spouses
Children
Parents
Relatives
- Jaya Harper(Grandchild)
Other works
Stage: Appeared in an off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams' "Orpheus Descending".
Publicity listings
- 1 Pictorial

Did you know

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Trivia
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.

Quotes
[on Jean Seberg during the making of Macho Callahan (1970)] She was terribly sensitive, almost like a little girl. We shot in a village outside Mexico City one day, and they set up tables for the cast and crew to eat. These skinny dogs wandered over, and Jean started to feed them off her plate. Someone snapped that you don't do that - not when there were people going hungry. Jean looked awfully hurt and didn't eat for two days after that. I personally considered her a great lady and a wonderful human being. A lady of sensitive, thought-out, careful choice and depth, and select caring.