Laura Dern and her children join Bruce Dern at the Cannes premiere of his documentary
Bruce said he never got over the loss of Diane Elizabeth and that it deeply affected his marriage to Diane Ladd
- Laura Dern and her children Ellery and Jaya joined Bruce Dern at Cannes on Wednesday
- The family attended the premiere of Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern at the festival
- Bruce Dern, 89, opened up in the documentary about the 1962 drowning death of his eldest daughter
Laura Dern and her two children made a rare joint red carpet appearance alongside her father, Bruce Dern, at the 2026 Cannes Film Festival on Wednesday, attending the premiere of the documentary Dernsie: The Amazing Life of Bruce Dern, directed by Mike Mendez.
The red carpet
Laura, 59, looked glamorous in a silver gown with a sheer overlay. Her daughter Jaya, 21, wore a striped black-and-white dress, whilst son Ellery, 24, matched his grandfather in a black tuxedo paired with a skinny tie.
Bruce, 89, wore a black tuxedo and bow tie, completing the look with a Los Angeles Dodgers baseball cap as he beamed for photographers. He held on to Laura and Ellery as the three generations posed together.
About the documentary
Dernsie chronicles Bruce's legendary Hollywood career as well as his personal life — including three marriages, professional milestones, and profound personal loss.
Bruce has been married three times: first to Marie Dawn Pierce from 1957 to 1959; then to late actress Diane Ladd from 1960 to 1969; and subsequently to Andrea Beckett, whom he married the same year he and Ladd divorced and has been with ever since.
A devastating family tragedy
Bruce and Ladd had two daughters during their marriage — Laura, and their firstborn Diane Elizabeth, who died tragically in 1962 at just 18 months old, following a drowning accident in the family's swimming pool whilst in the care of their maid.
Bruce shared how he received the news in the documentary. "My wife was at a Dodgers game; I was at a track meet at the Coliseum," he recalled, per People.
"I was told over the loudspeaker to go to the desk, and some plainclothes cop said to me, 'Are you Bruce Dern?' And I said 'Yes,' and he said, 'You should go home right now, because your child just drowned in a swimming pool.'"
He said he "never got over it" and that the tragedy deeply affected his relationship with Ladd. "Because Diane and I shared a tragedy, we stayed together longer than we should have, but out of it, five years later, came Laura," he said.
"About a month later, it was over for Diane and I, and we never really talked it out. She wasn't there. I wasn't there."
Diane Ladd died in November 2025 at the age of 89. Laura paid tribute to her mother at the time, saying: "She was the greatest daughter, mother, grandmother, actress, artist and empathetic spirit that only dreams could have seemingly created."
Laura's family
Laura shares Ellery and Jaya with her former husband, singer Ben Harper. The couple married in 2005 and divorced in 2013 after nearly eight years together.
