Piper Laurie, one of the last living Golden Age performers best remembered for her performances in Carrie and Twin Peaks, has died. She was 91 years old.
Marion Rosenberg, Laurie’s manager, confirmed to people that “Ms. Laurie passed away this morning in Los Angeles.” She died primarily of old age.”
“She was an extraordinary talent and a superb human being,” Rosenberg told people.
Laurie, who was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit in 1932, made her cinematic debut at the age of 18 in 1950, acting in two films that year: Louisa and The Milkman.
Laurie revealed in her 2011 novel Learning to Live Out Loud that she had a love interest in actor-turned-eventual President Ronald Reagan.
“When I was nine, my mother asked if I wanted to be in movies,” Laurie told The Wall Street Journal in 2021 of her early interest in acting. “I was ecstatic about the prospect. So she sent in a newspaper coupon and a photograph of myself for a contest. “In the meantime, I wrote and directed a school play.”
She went on to claim that it “took many years to believe in my own power” because she suffered from stage fright and took acting training.
“At one point, I offered to do an improv. Laurie commented, “I did well, and my confidence grew.”
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Laurie revealed that her favorite role in her nearly 70-year career (her last roles were in 2018) was Margaret White, “the diabolical mother” of Sissy Spacek’s titular telekinetic character in 1976’s Carrie, based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name.
“This was my first film in 15 years.” “I had a good time,” she remarked.
Laurie received an Emmy Award for her performance in the 1986 TV movie Promise, as well as a Golden Globe Award for her portrayal of Catherine Martell on Twin Peaks.
She had three Academy Award nominations: for The Hustler (1961), Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God (1986).
Anne Grace Morgenstern, Laurie’s daughter, survives her. Laurie’s sole child with ex-husband Joe Morgenstern, whom she married for 20 years, from 1962 to 1982, is Anne, 52.