Piper Laurie (born Rosetta Jacobs; January 22, 1932 – October 14, 2023) was an American actress. She is known for her roles in the films The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), and Children of a Lesser God (1986), and the miniseries The Thorn Birds (1983). She played Kirsten Arnesen in the original TV production of Days of Wine and Roses, and Catherine Martell in the television series Twin Peaks.
She received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and a BAFTA Award.
Early life
Piper Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan, on January 22, 1932. Laurie was the younger of two daughters born to furniture dealer Alfred Jacobs and his wife, Charlotte Sadie ( Alperin) Jacobs. Her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland and her maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.
In her 2011 autobiography Learning to Live Out Loud, Laurie said she was born in her family's one-bedroom walk-up on Tyler Street in Detroit. To combat her shyness, her parents provided her with weekly elocution lessons.
Laurie's mother and grandmother placed Laurie's older sister in a sanitarium for her asthma. Laurie was sent along to keep her company.
Career
In 1949, Jacobs signed a contract with Universal Studios, and changed her screen name to Piper Laurie, which she used thereafter. <!--Among the actors she met at Universal were James Best, Julie Adams, Tony Curtis, and Rock Hudson.--> Her breakout role was in Louisa (1950) with Ronald Reagan, whom she dated briefly before his marriage to Nancy Davis. In her autobiography, she claimed that she lost her virginity to him. Several other roles followed: Francis Goes to the Races (1951, co-starring Donald O'Connor); Son of Ali Baba (1951, co-starring Tony Curtis); and Ain't Misbehavin (1955, co-starring Rory Calhoun).
thumb|left|200px|Laurie in 1951
To polish her image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that Laurie bathed in milk and ate flower petals to protect her luminous skin. Discouraged by the lack of substantial film roles, she moved to New York City to study acting and to seek work on the stage and in television. in "Days of Wine and Roses" with Cliff Robertson, presented by Playhouse 90 on October 2, 1958 (in the film their roles were played by Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick), and in Winterset, presented by Playhouse 90 in 1959.
Laurie was lured back to Hollywood by the offer to co-star with Paul Newman in The Hustler, released in 1961. She played Newman's girlfriend, Sarah Packard, and for her performance, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress. and as Alice Marin in the Breaking Point episode "The Summer House". In 1965, she starred in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie, opposite Maureen Stapleton, Pat Hingle, and George Grizzard.
Laurie did not appear in another feature film until she accepted the role of religious fanatic Margaret White in the horror film Carrie (1976). She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance. The commercial success of the film, and recognition for her performance, relaunched her career. Her co-star Sissy Spacek praised her acting skill: "She is a remarkable actress. She never does what you expect her to doshe always surprises you with her approach to a scene."
thumb|right|200px|Laurie in 1990
In 1979, Laurie appeared as Mary Horton in the Australian movie Tim opposite Mel Gibson. After her 1981 divorce, Laurie moved to California. The same year, she was awarded an Emmy for her performance in Promise, a television movie, co-starring James Garner and James Woods. She had a featured role in the Off-Broadway production of The Destiny of Me in 1992, and returned to Broadway for Lincoln Center's acclaimed 2002 revival of Paul Osborn's Morning's at Seven, with Julie Hagerty, Buck Henry, Frances Sternhagen, and Estelle Parsons.
In 1990–1991, Laurie starred as the devious Catherine Martell in David Lynch's television series Twin Peaks. and in horror maestro Dario Argento's first American film Trauma (1993). She played George Clooney's character's mother on ER. and in 1998, she appeared in the sci-fi thriller The Faculty.
Laurie made guest appearances on television shows such as Frasier, State of Grace, and in 2018, she had a supporting role in White Boy Rick as the grandmother of the title character.
Personal life
thumb|upright|Laurie with her dog Sashay in 1954
Laurie was married to New York Herald Tribune entertainment writer and Wall Street Journal movie critic Joe Morgenstern.
They met shortly after the release of The Hustler in 1961 when Morgenstern interviewed her during the film's promotion. They soon began dating, and nine months after the interview, they were married on January 21, 1962. When no substantial roles came her way after The Hustler, she and Morgenstern moved to Woodstock, New York. In 1971, they adopted a daughter. In 1982, the couple divorced, after which she moved to the Hollywood area and continued working in films and television.
In 1962, she was Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year. In 2000, she received the Spirit of Hope Award in Korea for her service during the Korean War. She appeared at the September 2014 Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention in Hunt Valley, Maryland.
Laurie was also a sculptor who worked with marble and clay.
Filmography
Film
{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" | Notes
! class="unsortable" | Ref.
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1950
| Louisa
| Cathy Norton
| Film debut
|
|-
| 1977
| Ruby
| Ruby Claire
|
|
|-
| 1958
| Kirsten Arnesen Clay
| Episode: "Days of Wine and Roses" <br> Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Best Single Performance by an Actress
|
|-
| 1982
| Mae West
| Matilda West
| Television movie
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1985–1986
| rowspan="2"| '
| Aunt Neva
| Episode: "The Burning Man"
|
|
|-
| 1990–1991
| Twin Peaks
| Catherine Martell / <br> Mr. Tojamura
| 27 episodes <br> Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film <br> Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series <br> Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series <br> Nominated—Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actress – Prime Time
|
|}
Awards and nominations
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Award
! Category
! Nominated work
! Results
! Ref.
|-
| 1961
| rowspan="3"| Academy Awards
| Best Actress
| The Hustler
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1976
| rowspan="2"| Best Supporting Actress
| Carrie
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1986
| Children of a Lesser God
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1961
| British Academy Film Awards
| Best Foreign Actress
| The Hustler
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1994
| Fangoria Chainsaw Awards
| Best Supporting Actress
| Trauma
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1976
| rowspan="4"| Golden Globe Awards
| Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
| Carrie
|
| align="center" rowspan="4"|
|-
| 1983
| rowspan="3"| Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television
| The Thorn Birds
|
|-
| 1986
| Promise
|
|-
| 1990
| Twin Peaks
|
|-
| 1962
| Hasty Pudding Theatricals
| Woman of the Year
|
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 2018
| Los Angeles IFS Film Festival
| Best Actress
| Snapshots
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1961
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards
| Best Actress
| The Hustler
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1958
| rowspan="9"| Primetime Emmy Awards
| Actress – Best Single Performance – Lead or Support
| Studio One
|
| align="center" rowspan="9"|
|-
| 1959
| Best Single Performance by an Actress
| Playhouse 90
|
|-
| 1981
| rowspan="2"| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Special
| The Bunker
|
|-
| 1983
| The Thorn Birds
|
|-
| 1984
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
| St. Elsewhere
|
|-
| 1987
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Special
| Promise
|
|-
| 1990
| Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
| rowspan="2"| Twin Peaks
|
|-
| 1991
| Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series
|
|-
| 1999
| Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series
| Frasier
|
|-
| 2018
| RiverRun International Film Festival
| Master of Cinema Award
|
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1999
| Seattle International Film Festival
| Best Actress
| The Mao Game
|
| align="center"|
|-
| 1996
| Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards
| Best Supporting Actress
| The Grass Harp
|
| align="center"|
|}
Explanatory notes
References
External links
- Piper Laurie at Virtual History
- Interview with Piper Laurie, August 25, 2014, Classic Film & TV Cafe
- Interview with Piper Laurie at USA Today, January 2016.