Laura Dern Biography

Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. For her performance in the 1991 film Rambling Rose, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress, while for her performance in the 2014 film Wild, she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her other film roles include Mask (1985), Smooth Talk (1985), Blue Velvet (1986), Wild at Heart (1990), Jurassic Park (1993), Citizen Ruth (1996), October Sky (1999), I Am Sam (2001), Inland Empire (2006), The Master (2012), The Fault in Our Stars (2014), and Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).

Dern won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film for the 1992 film Afterburn, and guest starred in the 1997 "Puppy Episode" of the sitcom Ellen. She went on to win the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television for her portrayal of Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris in the 2008 TV film Recount, and the 2012 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy Series for her role as Amy Jellicoe in HBO's Enlightened (2011-13). She is known for her collaborations with filmmaker David Lynch, having appeared in three of his films and the upcoming revival of Twin Peaks.

Early life

Dern was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of actress Diane Ladd and actor Bruce Dern, and great-granddaughter of former Utah governor and Secretary of War, George Dern; Dern was conceived while her parents were filming The Wild Angels. The poet, writer, and Librarian of Congress Archibald MacLeish was her great-great-uncle.

Dern was largely brought up her mother and grandmother after her parents' divorce when she was two years old. She was raised Roman Catholic.

Career

Laura Dern's film debut was a cameo in her mother's film White Lightning (1973). She also made a brief appearance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), one of Ladd's signature roles. Her mother objected to her 13-year-old daughter's presence on the set of Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains, but Dern sued for and received emancipation. In 1982, she became the youngest-ever winner of Miss Golden Globe.

Dern began working with acting coach Sandra Seacat in 1984. Dern would later attribute Seacat with a dramatic transformation in her life and work. Speaking with Back Stage West again in 2004, Dern would expand upon her earlier comments; most recently, Dern thanked Seacat in her acceptance speech for Best Actress in a Television Series at the 69th Golden Globe Awards in 2012.

Between 1985 and 1990, Dern gained critical acclaim for roles in Mask, Blue Velvet, and Wild at Heart. Dern's starring role in Blue Velvet was a breakthrough though her next notable film, Wild at Heart, took almost four years to be released. Dern's affiliation with David Lynch has continued with her role in Inland Empire.

In 1992, Dern and her mother became the first mother and daughter to be nominated for an Academy Award for acting in the same film in Rambling Rose although, unlike in Wild at Heart, they did not play mother and daughter in the film. Dern starred as Dr. Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's 1993 film Jurassic Park. That same year, Clint Eastwood contacted the actress for his film A Perfect World. She also starred as Ruth in the 1996 film Citizen Ruth, the directorial debut of Alexander Payne. Dern's mother makes a cameo appearance, playing Dern's character's mother, with Dern's character screaming a torrent of abuse at her.

In 1997, Dern was featured in Widespread Panic's music video for their song, "Aunt Avis", which was directed by Dern's then boyfriend and future fianc, Billy Bob Thornton. In 1998, Dern co-starred in Jodie Foster's film The Baby Dance. While dating Thornton in 1999, she was cast as his love interest in his film Daddy and Them, which also includes Diane Ladd. Dern also appeared in Joe Johnston's film October Sky.

Robert Altman called upon Dern's talents to play a Champagne-loving Aunt in his Texas-based comedy Dr. T & the Women in 2000. She co-starred in Within These Walls and Arthur Miller's Focus. She had a minor role in Jurassic Park III, and was a supporting actress in the film I Am Sam. She starred in the 2002 film Damaged Care and the 2004 film We Don't Live Here Anymore. Dern starred in the 2005 film Happy Endings, and in the same year, she appeared in the film The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio.

In 2006, David Lynch and Dern reunited for Inland Empire and, also in 2006, Dern had a supporting role in Lonely Hearts. Mike White, known for writing School of Rock and The Good Girl, hired Dern for his directorial debut in 2007, the comedy titled Year of the Dog and starring Molly Shannon, John C. Reilly, and Peter Sarsgaard. In 2008 Dern starred in Recount for which she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film. Since then, Dern was seen in the independent 2009 drama Tenderness and, in 2010, she appeared in Little Fockers, playing an advanced school principal who dated Owen Wilson's character Kevin Rawley.

Dern has done much work on television, most notably Afterburn, for which she received a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Mini-Series or Movie. She guest-starred on The West Wing, was a voice on King of the Hill, and was a lesbian who coaxes Ellen DeGeneres out of the closet in the famous 1997 "The Puppy Episode" of the television series Ellen.

On the April 24, 2007, airing of DeGeneres's talk show, Dern revealed she did not work for more than a year following her appearance in that episode because of resulting backlash, but nevertheless called it an "extraordinary experience and opportunity."

Dern has been acknowledged with several awards from the independent film industry including the Sundance Institute and was the subject of an aggressive media campaign by David Lynch to win her an Academy Award nomination for her work in Inland Empire. On November 1, 2010, she received the 2,420th star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Her parents, Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern, were also presented with stars.

In October 2011, Dern starred in a new HBO television series called Enlightened. Dern plays Amy Jellicoe, "a health and beauty executive who returns from a post-meltdown retreat to pick up the pieces of her broken life" with, among others, her mother, played by her real-life mother Ladd. Dern brought screenwriter Mike White back into television work after he had had an on-the-job meltdown of his own. Jellicoe's Hawaiian retreat included introduction to meditation and the character tries to continue the discipline as she resumes her working life. Dern received her third Golden Globe for her role in the series.

Dern appeared in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2012 film The Master, along with Amy Adams and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

On February 15, 2016, it was announced that Dern would appear in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Personal life

Political views and activism

Dern is an activist and supporter of various charities, such as Healthy Child Healthy World, which aims to raise awareness about toxic substances that can affect a child's health. She advocated for Down Syndrome awareness in a cover story for Ability Magazine.

During the 66th Golden Globe Awards, on January 11, 2009, Dern expressed support for the incoming administration of Barack Obama during her acceptance speech for the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress - Series, Miniseries or Television Film for her work on the film Recount. She is quoted as saying, "I will cherish this as a reminder of the extraordinary, incredible outpouring of people who demanded their voice be heard in this last election so we can look forward to amazing change in this country. Thank you so much!"

Relationships and family

Dern began dating musician Ben Harper after they met at one of his concerts in fall 2000. 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 28, 2004). Through this marriage, Dern also became a stepmother to Harper's children from his first marriage, his son Charles and daughter Harris. In October 2010, Harper filed for divorce from Dern, citing irreconcilable differences. They briefly reconciled and attended the 2012 Golden Globe Awards together, but Dern reactivated the divorce by filing a legal response in July 2012. The divorce was finalized in September 2013.

Dern has also had romances with Kyle MacLachlan, Nicolas Cage, Renny Harlin, Jeff Goldblum, and Billy Bob Thornton.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Director	Notes
1973	White Lightning	Sharon Anne	Joseph Sargent	Uncredited
1974	Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore	Girl Eating Ice Cream Cone	Martin Scorsese	Uncredited
1980	Foxes	Debbie	Adrian Lyne
1982	Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fabulous Stains	Jessica McNeil	Lou Adler
1984	Teachers	Diane Warren	Arthur Hiller
1985	Mask	Diana Adams	Peter Bogdanovich
1985	Smooth Talk	Connie Wyatt	Joyce Chopra
1986	Blue Velvet	Sandy Williams	David Lynch
1987	Grizzly II: The Predator	Tina	Andr Szts
1988	Haunted Summer	Claire Clairmont	Ivan Passer
1989	Fat Man and Little Boy	Kathleen Robinson	Roland Joff
1990	Wild at Heart	Lula Fortune	David Lynch
1991	Rambling Rose	Rose	Martha Coolidge
1993	Jurassic Park	Dr. Ellie Sattler	Steven Spielberg
1993	A Perfect World	Sally Gerber	Clint Eastwood
1996	Citizen Ruth	Ruth Stoops	Alexander Payne
1996	Bastard Out of Carolina	Narrator (voice)	Anjelica Huston
1999	October Sky	Miss Riley	Joe Johnston
2000	Dr. T & the Women	Peggy	Robert Altman
2001	Daddy and Them	Ruby Montgomery	Billy Bob Thornton
2001	Jurassic Park III	Dr. Ellie Degler	Joe Johnston	Cameo
2001	Focus	Gertrude 'Gert' Hart	Neal Slavin
2001	I Am Sam	Randy Carpenter	Jessie Nelson
2002	Goose	Narrator (voice)	Daniel Ivanick	Short film
2004	We Don't Live Here Anymore	Terry Linden	John Curran
2005	Happy Endings	Pam Ferris	Don Roos
2005	The Prize Winner of Defiance	Dortha Schaefer	Jane Anderson
2006	Lonely Hearts	Rene Fodie	Todd Robinson
2006	Inland Empire	Nikki Grace / Susan Blue	David Lynch	Also co-producer
2007	Year of the Dog	Bret	Mike White
2008	The Monday Before Thanksgiving	Theresa	Courtney Cox	Short film
2009	Tenderness	Aunt Teresa	John Polson
2010	Everything Must Go	Delilah	Dan Rush
2010	Little Fockers	Prudence	Paul Weitz
2011	Fight for Your Right Revisited	Caf Patron	Adam Yauch	Short film
2012	The Master	Helen Sullivan	Paul Thomas Anderson
2014	The Fault in Our Stars	Frannie Lancaster	Josh Boone
2014	When the Game Stands Tall	Beverly Ladouceur	Thomas Carter
2014	Wild	Bobbi Lambrecht	Jean-Marc Valle
2014	99 Homes	Lynn Nash	Ramin Bahrani
2015	Bravetown	Annie	Daniel Duran
2016	Certain Women	Laura Wells	Kelly Reichardt
2016	The Founder	Ethel Fleming	John Lee Hancock
2017	Wilson	Pippi	Craig Johnson
2017	Star Wars: The Last Jedi		Rian Johnson	Post-production
2017	Downsizing		Alexander Payne	Post-production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Shannon		Episode: "Gotham Swansong"
1983	Happy Endings	Audrey Constantine	Television movie
1984	The Three Wishes of Billy Grier	Crissy	Television movie
1989	Nightmare Classics	Rebecca	Episode: "The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde"
1990	Industrial Symphony No. 1	Heartbroken Woman	Television movie
1992	Afterburn	Janet Harduvel	Television movie
1993	Fallen Angels	Annie Ainsley	Episode: "Murder, Obliquely"
1995	Frasier	June (voice)	Episode: "Sleeping with the Enemy"
1995	Down Came a Blackbird	Helen McNulty	Television movie; also executive producer
1996	The Siege at Ruby Ridge	Vicki Weaver	Television movie
1997	Ellen	Susan	2 episodes
1998	The Larry Sanders Show	Herself	Episode: "I Buried Sid"
1998	The Baby Dance	Wanda LeFauve	Television movie
2001	Within These Walls	Sister Pauline Quinn	Television movie
2002	Damaged Care	Linda Peeno	Television movie; also co-producer
2002	The West Wing	US Poet Laureate Tabatha Fortis	Episode: "The U.S. Poet Laureate"
2002-2003	King of the Hill	Serving Wench / Katherine (voices)	2 episodes
2008	Recount	Katherine Harris	Television movie
2011-2013	Enlightened	Amy Jellicoe	18 episodes; also co-creator and executive producer
2013	Call Me Crazy: A Five Film		Television movie; as director (segment: "Grace")
2014	Kroll Show	Cleo	2 episodes
2014	Drunk History	Nellie Bly	Episode: "New York City"
2015	The Mindy Project	Dr. Ludmilla Trapeznikov	Episode: "Best Man"
2015-present	F Is for Family	Sue Murphy (voice)	6 episodes
2017	Big Little Lies	Renata Klein	7 episodes
2017	The Last Man on Earth	Catherine	Episode: "Got Milk"
2017	Twin Peaks

Awards and nominations

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