Laura Elizabeth Dern, born on February 10, 1967, is an American actress. She has won many awards, such as an Academy Award, an Actor Award, a BAFTA Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and five Golden Globes.
Laura Dern, the daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, began acting in the 1980s. She became well known for her roles in Mask (1985), Smooth Talk (1985), and David Lynch’s films Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990). She was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for playing Rose in Rambling Rose (1991) and won her first Golden Globe for Afterburn (1992). Dern gained international fame as Ellie Sattler in Jurassic Park (1993), a role she returned to in Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022). She also starred in Citizen Ruth (1995), Inland Empire (2006), Certain Women (2016), and The Tale (2018).
Dern won two Golden Globes for her roles as Katherine Harris in Recount (2008) and Amy Jellicoe in Enlightened (2011–2013). She received her second Academy Award nomination for playing Cheryl Strayed’s mother in Wild (2014). In 2017, she played Renata Klein in Big Little Lies, winning both a Primetime Emmy and a Golden Globe, and appeared again with David Lynch in Twin Peaks: The Return. Dern also had supporting roles in A Perfect World (1993), October Sky (1999), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Little Women (2019), and Marriage Story (2019). Her role as a divorce lawyer in Marriage Story earned her the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, as well as a BAFTA and a Golden Globe.
Profile Summary
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Laura Dern |
| Birth Name | Laura Elizabeth Dern |
| Date of Birth | February 10, 1967 (age 59) |
| Place of Birth | Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Occupations | Actress; Producer |
| Years Active | 1973–present |
| Children | 2 |
Personal Relationships
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| Spouse | Ben Harper (m. 2005; div. 2013) |
Family
| Relationship | Name |
|---|---|
| Father | Bruce Dern |
| Mother | Diane Ladd |
| Great-grandfather | George Dern |
| Great-great-grandfather | Andrew MacLeish |
| Great-granduncle | Archibald MacLeish |
Age
Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California, United States. She is 59 years old.
Biography & Early life
Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, and great-granddaughter of former Utah governor and Secretary of War George Dern. Laura was conceived while her parents were filming The Wild Angels. Poet, writer, and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish was her great-great-uncle. After her parents divorced when she was two years old, Dern was largely raised by her mother and maternal grandmother, Mary, who was of Norwegian descent from Oslo. She was raised Catholic. Her godmother was actress Shelley Winters. She developed scoliosis as a child.
Her first foray into film was an appearance as an extra in White Lightning (1973), a film in which her mother starred. Her official film debut was an appearance opposite her mother in Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974).
In 1982, Dern, aged just 15, served as Miss Golden Globe. In the same year, she portrayed a rebellious rock band member in the cult film Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains.
At 16, after doubling on her classes to graduate high school a semester early, she sought and attained emancipation, which allowed her to work the same number of hours as an adult on films. After moving out of her home at the age of 17, Dern became roommates with Marianne Williamson, who is 15 years older. Dern later enrolled at UCLA intending to double major in psychology and journalism, but withdrew two days into the quarter to film Blue Velvet.
Personal life
Dern was in a relationship with her Blue Velvet co-star Kyle MacLachlan from 1985 to 1989. She began dating Jeff Goldblum while filming Jurassic Park, and the relationship ended in 1997. Dern also dated Billy Bob Thornton from 1997 to 1999. They were engaged until she discovered he was dating Angelina Jolie. In autumn 2000, Dern began dating musician Ben Harper after they met at one of his concerts. Harper and Dern married on December 23, 2005, at their home in Los Angeles. They have two children together, son Ellery Walker (born August 21, 2001) and daughter Jaya (born November 2004). Through this marriage, Dern became stepmother to Harper’s children from his first marriage. The two finalized their divorce in 2013.
On October 18, 2017, after the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse scandal, Dern appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and shared that she had been sexually assaulted when she was one year old.
Awards and nominations
Dern has earned many awards for her work in film and television, including an Academy Award, an Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globes.
Dern was praised for her role as the orphan in Rambling Rose (1991), earning nominations for both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Actress. She and her mother, Diane Ladd, were both nominated for Oscars for the same film, which was only the second time a parent and child received acting nominations together for the same movie as of 2024. In 1992, Dern won a Golden Globe for Afterburn and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy. She received four more Emmy nominations for her roles in Fallen Angels (1994), Ellen (1997), Recount (2008), and Enlightened (2013). She also won Golden Globes for Recount and Enlightened.
Dern’s role as a devoted mother in HBO’s Big Little Lies (2017–2019) received high praise. In the first season, she won the Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, and Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, and was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award, which went to Nicole Kidman. In the second season, Dern was nominated for more Critics’ Choice and Emmy awards, as well as a Screen Actors Guild Award for ensemble performance. Her work in The Tale (2018) also earned her nominations for the Critics’ Choice, Golden Globe, and Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
Net Worth
Laura Dern works as an actress and producer and has a net worth of $20 million.
