


'Citizen Ruth,' 'October Sky,' 'Daddy and Them'ĭern followed with a variety of roles, playing a resentful pregnant woman in the 1996 film Citizen Ruth, a supportive high school teacher in 1999's October Sky and a member of an unconventional Alabama family in Billy Bob Thornton's Daddy and Them (2001). That same year, she won a Golden Globe Award (best performance by an actress in a TV mini-series or motion picture) for her performance on HBO's Afterburn.

In 1993, Dern won the attention of mainstream audiences as a courageous scientist in Steven Spielberg's blockbuster Jurassic Park, based on the popular book of the same name by Michael Crichton.

Ladd was also nominated for an Oscar, marking the first time a mother-daughter team received dual nominations in the same year. Her nuanced performance as a troubled teenager led to an Academy Award nomination for best actress. The following year, Dern appeared with her mother in the critically acclaimed Rambling Rose (1991). 'Wild at Heart,' 'Rambling Rose'ĭern reteamed with Lynch in 1990 for the groundbreaking Wild at Heart, playing an oversexed 20-year-old on the run opposite Nicolas Cage. That same year, she edged further toward the fringe in David Lynch's disturbing Blue Velvet. The daring role earned Dern a New Generation Award from the Los Angeles Film Critics. Subsequent roles included Teachers (1984) and Mask (1985), after which she surprised audiences as a rebellious teen anxious to experience a sexual awakening in Smooth Talk (1986). Films and TV Shows 'Foxes,' 'Mask,' 'Smooth Talk,' 'Blue Velvet'Īfter a few bit parts during childhood, Dern received her first major role in 1980, in the Adrian Lyne film Foxes. After attending the University of Southern California for one semester and the University of California, Los Angeles, for just two days, Dern enrolled at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Institute to study method acting. The granddaughter of politician George Dern and daughter of actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, Laura Dern has played everything from willowy ingénues to drug-addicted washouts. Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. The actress has also received acclaim for her TV projects, garnering awards for her roles on HBO's Enlightened and Big Little Lies. Dern later took home her first Oscar win for her supporting role in Marriage Story. She appeared in films like Mask, Wild at Heart and Rambling Rose, for which she received an Oscar nod, before winning over mainstream audiences in the Steven Spielberg blockbuster Jurassic Park. Born in 1967 in Los Angeles, California, Laura Dern followed parents Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd into the acting business.
