Laura Dern - Biography 1 of 2 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000368/bio ow Playing Movie/TV ews My Movies DVD ew Releases IMDbTV Message Boards Showtimes & Tickets IMDbPro IMDb Resume Login | Register Home | Top Movies | Photos | Independent Film | GameBase | Browse | Help search more | tips IMDb > Laura Dern > Biography Biography for Laura Dern Add/Change Photo Add Resume at IMDb Resume Contact Info at IMDb Pro Shop at Amazon for Laura Dern products More at IMDb Pro Discuss in Boards Update Data Quicklinks biography Top Links biography by votes awards NewsDesk message board Filmographies categorized by type by year by ratings by votes by TV series awards titles for sale by genre by keyword power search credited with tv schedule Biographical biography other works publicity contact photo gallery resume NewsDesk message board External Links official sites miscellaneous photographs sound clips video clips More at IMDb Pro » Date of Birth 10 February 1967, Los Angeles, California, USA Sponsored links Birth Name Laura Elizabeth Dern Personal Biographies Making professional narrative films about friends and loved ones www.edv.uk.com Height 5' 10½" (1.79 m) Mini Biography Laura Dern was born on February 10, 1967 into a moviemaking family - her father is Bruce Dern and her mother is Diane Ladd. Dern was exposed to movie sets and the movie industry from infancy, and obtained several bit parts as a child. Her parents divorced when Dern was two and Dern lost contact with her father for several years as a result. Jordan Jordan rips into Dwight Yorke for his absence as a father to Harvey www.thesun.co.uk/showbiz Gorgeous Long Hair Style Check out Elizabeth Jaggers style Long hair inspiration getlippy getlippy.com advertisement Her parents' background and her own early taste of the moviemaking world soon convinced the young Dern to pursue acting herself. Like so many young actors, her decision may have been influenced by social awkwardness -- the child of 60s counterculture parents, she was steeped in Eastern mysticism and political radicalism, and was seen as an oddball by her more conservative classmates. Her gawky physical appearance didn't help - even before her teens, she had achieved most of her impressive 5' 10" height, was rail-skinny (other than precociously wide hips), had huge feet and a slouching posture, and for all this was often teased by classmates. Perhaps the nine-year-old Dern found refuge by studying acting at the Lee Strasberg Theater Institute. The first success for the young Dern came in 1980, with a role in Adrian Lyne's Foxes (1980), a teen movie starring Jodie Foster. She followed this with several small parts, or parts in small movies, such as Ladies and Gentlemen, the Fabulous Stains (1981) and Teachers (1984), as a student who has an affair with a teacher. (Her mother objected to her active presence on movie sets at age thirteen, which required Dern to sue for emancipation so she could play her role in "The Fabulous Stains"). Her next roles, as the blind girl who befriends the deformed boy in Mask (1985), and as a teenaged girl whose sexual awakening collides with a mysterious older man in Smooth Talk (1985), gave her career an important boost. Dern appeared to have made it with a leading role in David Lynch's acclaimed Blue Velvet (1986), but it was four years before her next notable film, and this was the bizarre Wild at Heart (1990), also directed by Lynch. The following year, Dern starred in Rambling Rose (1991), which would become her signature performance, as a sexually-precocious, free-spirited young housemaid in the South in the 1930s. Dern earned an Oscar nomination for her performance, and so did her mother and co-star, Diane Ladd. Dern continues to win prominent roles on the big screen, often in smaller, highly-regarded human dramas such as October Sky (1999), I Am Sam (2001) and We Don't Live Here Anymore (2004), although she is perhaps most widely known for her repeat role as Ellie Sattler in the summer adventure movies Jurassic Park (1993) and Jurassic Park III (2001), or for her guest performance on "Ellen" (1994), as the woman to whom Ellen finally comes out as a lesbian. Dern's pre-teen gawkiness matured into lithe beauty, but this doesn't prevent Dern from fearlessly throwing herself into a wide variety of roles which are sometimes unflattering, an excellent example being her unflinchingly comic portrayal of an intensely annoying loser whose pregnancy becomes a social and political football in Citizen Ruth (1996). This results in Dern being one of the most interesting actors working in Hollywood today. Having previously dated such Hollywood talent as Treat Williams, Renny Harlin, Kyle MacLachlan, Jeff Goldblum and Billy Bob Thornton, Dern eventually married musician Ben Harper in 2005. Early in her career, Dern was roommate to Marianne Williamson, the spirituality guru. Dern attended two days of college at UCLA and one semester at USC. IMDb Mini Biography By: Larry-115 Spouse Ben Harper (23 December 2005 - present) 2 children Trivia Born at 7:48am-PST Daughter of Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd. Once engaged to Billy Bob Thornton. Once engaged to Jeff Goldblum for 2 years (1995-1997). Her great-grandfather was governor of Utah. PDF Created with deskPDF PDF Writer - Trial :: http://www.docudesk.com 12/4/2008 7:58 AM Laura Dern - Biography 2 of 2 http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000368/bio 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 4 movies: Citizen Ruth (1996), Daddy and Them (2001), Wild at Heart (1990) and White Lightning (1973). Both she and her mother, Diane Ladd, starred in 2 dinosaur-themed movies in 1993. Dern starred as Ellie Sattler in the box office smash Jurassic Park, while Ladd starred in the failed indie film Carnosaur. Has starred in two films titled "Happy Endings", one a television film in 1983 and the other an independent film in 2005. Personal Quotes "It's really fun to act like a bimbo. But it's fun to act like a bimbo only when people know that you really aren't one." "I get so protective of David [Lynch], like an older sister or something, which is so absurd. He's not waiting for us to get the movie because he doesn't think the cinema is about 'getting it'. I think he believes - which I've found very rare in filmmakers - in the intelligence of the audience, that they're intelligent enough to discover the film and what it means within themselves." Salary Mask (1985) $2,000 People Viewing This Page May Also Be Interested In These Sponsored Links (What's This?) Jordan www.thesun.co.uk/showbiz * Jordan rips into Dwight Yorke for his absence as a father to Harvey The Tale of Despereaux www.thetaleofdespereauxmovie.co.uk * Special Adv Screenings Dec 13 & 14! In Cinemas Everywhere December 19 Gorgeous Long Hair Style getlippy.com * Check out Elizabeth Jaggers style Long hair inspiration getlippy You may report errors and omissions on this page to the IMDb database managers. They will be examined and if approved will be included in a future update. Clicking the 'Update' button will take you through a step-by-step process. With our Resume service you can add photos and build a complete resume to help you achieve the best possible presentation on the IMDb. Click here to add your resume and/or your photos to IMDb. 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