Once engaged to Jeff Goldblum for 2 years (1995-1997).
Her great-grandfather was governor of Utah.
Welcomed first child, son Ellery Walker, with boyfriend Ben Harper in Los Angeles. [21 August 2001]
Had an elder sister, born in 1961, who drowned at the age of 18 months, years before Laura was born.
Granddaughter of Mary Lanier
When she was cast in Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1981) at the age of 13, her mother Diane Ladd refused to let her go, feeling she was too young to leave home for a movie shoot. Laura sued for emancipation and won, but the movie wasn't a hit.
Announced engagment to Ben Harper in August 2004.
Second child, Jaya, a daughter, with boyfriend Ben Harper, born in Los Angeles on 28 November 2004.
She said that her idols are Katharine Hepburn, Barbara Stanwyck, and Lucille Ball.
Hers and her mother's (Diane Ladd) Oscar nominations for Rambling Rose (1991) mark the first time a mother and daughter ever received Oscar nominations for the same movie.
Played daughter to real-life mother Diane Ladd in 5 movies: Citizen Ruth (1996), Daddy and Them (2001), Rambling Rose (1991), Wild at Heart (1990) and White Lightning (1973)
Laura Dern Detailed Biography
This past summer, the versatile Dern was seen in Jurassic Park III while last fall she starred in the critically-praised Robert Altman film Dr. T and the Women opposite Richard Gere. Most recently she co-starred with Steve Martin in Novocaine and with William H. Macy in Focus, based on Arthur Miller's novel.
Dern has been the recipient of numerous film awards including Best Actress at the 1996 Montreal Film Festival for her performance in Alexander Payne's dark comedy Citizen Ruth. Last year, the Sundance Institute honored Dern with the prestigious Piper Heidseick Award for Independent Vision at the Sundance Film Festival.
Dern made her screen debut at the age of seven in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. At the age of 11, she co-starred in Foxes with Jodie Foster. Dern won the Los Angeles Film Critics New Generation Award for her performance in the coming-of-age story Smooth Talk. She went on to star in Blue Velvet and Wild at Heart, which won the Palme d'Or at the 1990 Cannes Film Festival. Her other film credits include October Sky, Jurassic Park, A Perfect World, Mask, Fat Man and Little Boy, Haunted Summer, Teachers and Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.
Dern made her directorial debut with the short film The Gift, which aired as part of Showtime's Directed By series. She also starred in Showtime's original film Down Came A Blackbird.
Dern's television accomplishments have been acknowledged with a Golden Globe nomination for her role in The Baby Dance for Showtime and an Emmy Award nomination for her guest-starring role in the controversial Puppy Episode of the comedy series Ellen. She also starred in Showtime's critically-acclaimed film noir series Fallen Angel, for which she received an Emmy nomination.
