Laura Dern

Biography

Laura Elizabeth Dern (born February 10, 1967) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, a BAFTA Award, and five Golden Globe Awards.

Born to actors Bruce Dern and Diane Ladd, Dern embarked on an acting career in the 1980s and rose to prominence for her performances in Mask (1985) and the David Lynch films Blue Velvet (1986) and Wild at Heart (1990). She received her first Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of the titular orphan in the drama film Rambling Rose (1991), and achieved international recognition for her role as Ellie Sattler in Steven Spielberg's adventure film Jurassic Park (1993), a role that she reprised in the sequels Jurassic Park III (2001) and Jurassic World Dominion (2022).

After winning two Golden Globe Awards for her performances as Katherine Harris in the television film Recount (2008), and Amy Jellicoe in the comedy-drama series Enlightened (2011–2013), Dern garnered her second Academy Award nomination for her performance as the mother of Cheryl Strayed in the biopic Wild (2014). 

In 2017, she began starring as Renata Klein on the drama series Big Little Lies, winning a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, and reunited with David Lynch for Twin Peaks: The Return. 

She had supporting roles in the films Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017), Little Women (2019), and Marriage Story (2019). Her performance in the last won her numerous accolades, including an Academy Award and her fifth Golden Globe Award.

Laura Elizabeth Dern was born on February 10, 1967, in Los Angeles, California. The daughter of actors Diane Ladd and Bruce Dern and great-granddaughter of former Utah governor and Secretary of War George Dern, she 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 brought up by her mother and maternal grandmother, Mary, who had Norwegian ancestry, from Oslo. She was raised Catholic. Her godmother was actress Shelley Winters. She developed scoliosis as a child.