Diane Lou Oswald is the mother of actor Woody Harrelson, a retired legal secretary who raised three sons after her marriage to Charles Harrelson ended in 1964. If you’re asking who is Diane Lou Oswald, the short answer is a private woman from Lebanon, Ohio, whose public profile comes almost entirely from her son’s career. Diane Lou Oswald age and Diane Lou Oswald net worth are two of the most-searched details, and neither has an official answer. This guide sticks to the Diane Lou Oswald Woody Harrelson story that Wikipedia and other consistent sources can support.
Her name is a magnet for confusion. Pages link her to Lee Harvey Oswald, call her Taylor Swift’s mother, turn her into a Pennsylvania politician and invent an “activist” career. I read through those pages, then checked the family facts against Wikipedia’s entries for Woody Harrelson and his brother Brett Harrelson, which give her name, her marriage and her hometown.
This article covers who she is, her marriage and divorce, her work and what the internet gets wrong. It leaves out her address, her grandchildren and anything about her private finances, because none of that is public and none of it is ours to guess. Where a fact can’t be confirmed, I’ve written “not publicly confirmed”.
Diane Lou Oswald Quick Facts
| Topic | Available Information |
| Full Name | Diane Lou Oswald (also called Diane Lou Harrelson) |
| Birth Date | Not publicly confirmed |
| Age | Not publicly confirmed (a 1937 birth year is widely reported, which would be about 89) |
| Birthplace | Lebanon, Ohio (Wikipedia calls it her native city) |
| Nationality | American |
| Profession | Secretary, later described as a legal secretary |
| Known For | Being the mother of actor Woody Harrelson |
| Education | Not publicly confirmed |
| Relationship Status | Divorced; married to Charles Harrelson until 1964 |
| Children | Three sons: Jordan, Woody and Brett Harrelson |
| Net Worth | Not publicly confirmed |
| Social Media | Not publicly confirmed |
Five of those cells open with “Not publicly confirmed”, and that’s deliberate. A short, honest table is more useful than a long one built on numbers nobody can trace.
Who Is Diane Lou Oswald?
Diane Lou Oswald, born Diane Lou Oswald and later Diane Harrelson, is the mother of actor Woody Harrelson. Wikipedia says he was born on 23 July 1961 in Midland, Texas, to a secretary named Diane Lou and a convicted contract killer, Charles Voyde Harrelson.
She’s a native of Lebanon, Ohio, according to Wikipedia’s entries for Woody and his brother Brett. That’s the verified core. Her parents, her schooling and her early adult years aren’t documented in any source I’d call reliable, so I’ve kept to what the better profiles agree on.
Why Is Diane Lou Oswald Famous?
She’s known for being Woody Harrelson’s mother. Woody won an Emmy for playing Woody Boyd on Cheers and has been nominated for three Academy Awards, so questions about his family come up each time he’s in the news.
Wikipedia notes that Woody’s family was poor and relied on her wages, and he’s spoken warmly about his mother’s influence on his character. Those two facts, a working single mother and a son who credits her, are the real centre of her public story.
There’s a harder reason too. Her former husband, Charles Harrelson, became notorious as a convicted contract killer, and readers who learn that want to know about the woman who raised his sons. That’s understandable, but it tells you far more about him than about her.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Marriage to Charles Harrelson
Diane Oswald married Charles Voyde Harrelson in the late 1950s. Profiles disagree on the year, with some saying 1958 and others 1959, so I’d treat the year as unconfirmed. Charles was reportedly working odd jobs, including selling encyclopaedias, while Diane held a secretarial post.
Little else is documented about the marriage itself. Both partners were very young, with one profile putting them at 22 and 21 when they wed, and the family lived in Texas through the early 1960s. Anything more detailed than that, including descriptions of their relationship, comes from unsourced pages.
The couple had three sons: Jordan, Woody and Brett. Wikipedia lists Brett’s birth in Midland on 4 June 1963, which places the family in Texas through the early 1960s.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Divorce
The marriage ended in 1964, according to Wikipedia’s entry for Brett Harrelson. That date is well supported and it’s the one worth using.
Several profiles say Charles left the family home for good a few years later, in 1968. I couldn’t trace that to a primary source, so I’d call it plausible rather than proven. What’s clear is the outcome: Diane was left to raise three boys on her own.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Children
Diane Lou Oswald has three adult sons: Jordan, Woody and Brett Harrelson. Woody is the actor and the best known of the three, and Wikipedia has a separate entry for Brett Harrelson, who was raised in Lebanon and attended Lebanon High School.
That’s as far as this article goes. Her grandchildren are private individuals, and nothing about them is needed to understand her story.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Profession
Diane Lou Oswald worked as a secretary, and many profiles say a legal secretary. Wikipedia’s entry for Woody calls her a secretary and notes that the family was poor and depended on her wages.
The jobs that appear on other pages are invented. One calls her a “trailblazing journalist”, another a mental-health advocate, another an environmental activist focused on clean energy and endangered species. I found no source for any of it, and the pages read like templates with her name dropped in.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Age and Birthplace
Her age is not publicly confirmed. A 1937 birth year appears on many secondary profiles, which would make her about 89 in late 2026, but none cites a record or an interview.
Other pages give 1931, 1936 or 1953. The 1953 date comes from a page that mixes her up with Taylor Swift’s mother, so it’s worth ignoring entirely. Lebanon, Ohio, is the birthplace that Wikipedia supports.
Diane Lou Oswald’s Net Worth
Diane Lou Oswald’s net worth is not publicly confirmed. One content-farm page says $500,000, with no source and no method.
Wikipedia describes the family as poor in Woody’s childhood and says it relied on her earnings. Beyond that, I found no documented income, property or assets in her name, and I’d rather leave the number blank than make one up.
Where Is Diane Lou Oswald Now?
Her current circumstances aren’t publicly confirmed. Several profiles say she’s believed to live quietly in or near Lebanon, Ohio, but the wording is hedged for a reason. I found no verified interview, photograph or statement from her in 2025 or 2026.
That silence isn’t a mystery. It’s what a private life looks like when someone has spent decades out of the headlines.
Rumours and Mistakes About Diane Lou Oswald
The first mistake is the Lee Harvey Oswald link. Some pages promise to “unravel the connections” to the man accused of killing President Kennedy. I found no evidence that she’s related to him, and the shared surname is just a surname.
The second is mistaken identity. One page says she’s Taylor Swift’s mother, with a Pennsylvania birthplace and a marketing career. Another says she’s a state legislator. Neither belongs to Woody Harrelson’s mother.
The third is the invented career. Journalist, activist and mental-health advocate all appear on pages with no sources. Nothing reliable supports them.
The fourth is the birth year. Pages say 1931, 1936, 1937 and 1953, and one lists her as 88 in 2025 while another has her at 87. The numbers don’t agree because nobody has a primary source.
The fifth is the unfinished template. Some pages show placeholder fields such as “Month Day, Year” where her birth date should be, which tells you the author had no date to give.
Why Diane Lou Oswald Stays Out of the Spotlight
I can’t speak for her, and neither can the pages that try. What’s documented is plain: she’s given no interviews I could find, and the few facts we have come from her sons’ biographies.
Choosing privacy isn’t unusual for the parent of a famous actor. It isn’t a mystery, and she doesn’t owe anyone a public account of her life.
Separating Facts From Myths About Diane Lou Oswald
Reasonably well-supported: she’s the mother of Woody, Brett and Jordan Harrelson, she was married to Charles Harrelson until 1964, she’s a native of Lebanon, Ohio, she worked as a secretary, and the family moved there in 1973.
Weakly supported or unconfirmed: a 1937 birth year, the 1958 or 1959 wedding date, a legal-secretary title at a named firm, a 1968 departure by Charles, and any current home.
Not supported at all: the Lee Harvey Oswald connection, the Taylor Swift link, the politician and activist careers, the $500,000 net worth and and every page whose biography table is left half blank.
A Timeline of Diane Lou Oswald’s Publicly Known Story
1937: Reported birth year, in Lebanon, Ohio; not publicly confirmed.
1958 or 1959: Diane Oswald marries Charles Harrelson; sources differ on the year.
23 July 1961: Her son Woody Harrelson is born in Midland, Texas.
4 June 1963: Her son Brett Harrelson is born in Midland.
1964: Diane and Charles divorce.
1973: Diane moves with her sons to her native Lebanon, Ohio.
1979: Woody graduates from Lebanon High School.
2007: Charles Harrelson dies in prison, per CBS News.
2026: Diane would be about 89 if the 1937 birth year is right.
Why People Keep Searching for Diane Lou Oswald
Curiosity about the family drives most of it. Woody Harrelson is one of Hollywood’s best-known actors, and his father’s story is dramatic enough that readers want the other half of the picture.
Content farms then pile on. They publish near-identical posts with guessed ages, invented careers and borrowed photos, and rank on volume rather than accuracy. The shared surname with Lee Harvey Oswald adds a second wave of searches from people hoping for a connection that doesn’t exist.
Diane Lou Oswald in 2026
In 2026, the verifiable record for Diane Lou Oswald is the same as it’s been for years: a Lebanon, Ohio native, a divorce in 1964, three sons and a working life as a secretary. Woody’s career keeps her name in search results, but she’s not part of it. Each new film, award or interview he gives sends another round of readers looking for the woman who raised him in Ohio.
If a page offers fresh news about her, look for a named source, a date and a link to the original. If none of the three is there, close the tab. And if a credible interview or profile ever appears, I’ll update this page.
Here’s a quick test I use on any celebrity-parent biography. Does it name where each fact came from? Does the birth year match the age it states? Does it say what it couldn’t confirm? Most pages about her fail all three, which is why this one is shorter than they are.
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Frequently Asked Questions About Diane Lou Oswald
Who is Diane Lou Oswald?
Diane Lou Oswald is the mother of actor Woody Harrelson and his brothers Brett and Jordan. She’s a retired secretary from Lebanon, Ohio, who keeps a private life.
How old is Diane Lou Oswald?
Her age is not publicly confirmed. A 1937 birth year appears on many profiles, which would make her about 89, but none cites a source.
What is Diane Lou Oswald’s net worth?
Her net worth is not publicly confirmed. The $500,000 figure online has no source behind it.
Is Diane Lou Oswald related to Lee Harvey Oswald?
I found no evidence that she is. Pages suggesting a link rely on the shared surname and cite no records.
Who was Diane Lou Oswald married to?
She was married to Charles Harrelson, a convicted contract killer who died in prison in 2007. The couple divorced in 1964, according to Wikipedia.
Diane Lou Oswald’s public story is short: a Lebanon, Ohio native, a 1964 divorce and three sons raised on a secretary’s wages. Everything beyond that is mostly noise. I’d rather give you a handful of facts that hold up than a long list that doesn’t.