Actress Piper Laurie had multiple notable roles during her long career in Hollywood. She was nominated for an Academy Award for three of those roles, including the part she played in the movie “Carrie” in 1976. She was also nominated for the part she played in “The Hustler” and “Children of a Lesser God.” Other notable credits include “The Faculty,” “Twin Peaks,” and the TV movie “Promise,” which earned her an Emmy award.
Now, Laurie’s manager, Marion Rosenberg, has confirmed that Laurie has died at the age of 91 years old. Her cause of death was simply old age. Rosenberg remembered Laurie as “a superb talent and a wonderful human being.”
Laurie’s birth name is Rosetta Jacobs, and she went by the nickname Rosie. She didn’t like the stage name she was given by Universal Studios when she started her acting career, but while she was under contract, she made more than 20 movies, playing a teenage girl in each one. She worked with such iconic actors as Rock Hudson and Tony Curtis.
Laurie didn’t enjoy the types of roles she was given, so she left Hollywood for New York City and turned to acting on stage and doing live television projects.
Then she stopped acting altogether. She took a break from the limelight for fifteen years. During that time, she kept busy as a wife and mother. She married Joe Morgenstern, a film critic, and together they had a daughter named Anne Grace Morgenstern. They lived in Woodstock, New York.
The role of the mother in the movie “Carrie” was what pulled her back into acting. During an interview, she once explained how she found out about the role and what she thought of the movie’s script when she first read it. Watch the video below to learn more about how she came to be cast in the movie “Carrie.”
After “Carrie,” Laurie returned to acting. She had numerous guest star roles in TV shows including “Frasier,” “ER” and “St. Elsewhere.” She also starred in “Twin Peaks” and numerous movies.
Laurie ultimately divorced her husband in 1982. She is survived by her daughter.
