Starting from her official debut appearance alongside her mother in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), American actress Laura Elizabeth Dern (February 10, 1967 —) has been working in film and television for five decades. Recipient of five Golden Globe Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a BAFTA Award, she is perhaps best known for her portrayal of the paleobotanist character Ellie Sattler in the Jurassic Park franchise, or for her guest role on the television series Ellen playing the woman to whom Degeneres comes out as lesbian.

Born in Los Angeles, California to actor Bruce Dern and actress Diane Ladd, Dern was conceived while her parents were filming Roger Corman's The Wild Angels (1966). Encouraged by Scorsese, she had a handful of film roles as a child actor, and began working professionally as a teenager alongside Jodie Foster in Foxes (1980) followed by appearances in Mask (1985) and Smooth Talk (1985). Her casting in David Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) is widely regarded as her breakout performance, and she has since contributed to numerous projects with the director.

Dern's starring role in Rambling Rose (1991) is viewed by some critics as her signature work, a performance for which she was nominated for an Oscar. Most of her career has been focused on playing supporting roles in films, and she is unafraid to portray characters that are anti-heroes or that invite controversy. She was blacklisted in Hollywood for several years following her aforementioned appearance on Ellen (despite an Emmy nomination for it) and received hate mail and death threats, but referred to the experience in 2007 as "extraordinary" and "an incredible honor".

Married in 2005 to musician Ben Harper, the couple have two children and divorced in 2013. Wait, I'm at 300 words already? This is unacceptable.

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