Piper Laurie was a seasoned actress known for films like The Hustler, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God, as well as the series The Thorn Birds and Twin Peaks. She achieved great critical acclaim and received various accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award, in addition to nominations for three Academy Awards and a BAFTA.
Nobody thought of me as an actress. They just remembered that publicity story about my munching flower petals for breakfast. I even thought of giving up the name ‘Piper Laurie’ because I felt there was a stigma attached to it. I never could figure out just how many parts I lost and how many parts I won because of this name.
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie, born Rosetta Jacobs on January 22, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, was an American actress whose career spanned over seven decades. She was the younger of two daughters born to Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer, and Charlotte Sadie (née Alperin) Jacobs. Her paternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Poland, and her maternal grandparents were Jewish immigrants from Russia.
To combat her shyness, Laurie’s parents provided her with weekly elocution lessons. This early training laid the foundation for her future career in acting. In 1949, she signed a contract with Universal Studios and adopted the stage name Piper Laurie.
Laurie’s breakout role came in the film “Louisa” (1950), where she starred alongside Ronald Reagan. She quickly became a popular actress in the 1950s, appearing in films such as “Francis Goes to the Races” (1951), “Son of Ali Baba” (1952), and “Ain’t Misbehavin'” (1955). Despite her early success, Laurie grew frustrated with the lack of substantial roles and moved to New York City to study acting and seek work on the stage and in television.
Laurie scored her first Oscar nomination for her work opposite Paul Newman in 1961’s classic pool hall drama “The Hustler,” in which she played an alcoholic.
Laurie’s career took a significant turn when she starred opposite Paul Newman in “The Hustler” (1961). Her portrayal of Sarah Packard, an alcoholic, earned her an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Due to a lack of good offers, she moved to New York and appeared in the dramas “The Eleventh Hour” and “Breaking Point” in 1964. In 1965, she starred in a Broadway revival of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie.
She continued to deliver powerful performances in films such as “Carrie” (1976), where she played the fanatically religious mother of the titular character, earning her a second Academy Award nomination.
In 1986, Laurie received her third Academy Award nomination for her role in “Children of a Lesser God.” She also gained recognition for her work in television, notably in the miniseries “The Thorn Birds (1983).” She then won an Emmy for her performance in “Promise (1986),” a television movie co-starring James Garner and James Woods.
Her performance as the plotting, power-hungry Catherine Martell in David Lynch’s landmark TV series “Twin Peaks” brought her two of her nine Emmy nominations as well as a Golden Globe Award.
Laurie revealed in her 2011 autobiography, “Learning to Live Out Loud,” that she lost her virginity to Ronald Reagan during the filming of “Louisa.”.
She had a one-night stand with Mel Gibson while working together on the movie “Tim (1979),” despite their significant age difference.
Laurie was also a talented sculptor who worked in marble and clay.
To enhance her image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that Laurie bathed in milk and ate flower petals to protect her luminous skin.
Laurie was married to writer and movie critic Joe Morgenstern in 1962. Together, they adopted a daughter, Anne Grace Morgenstern. The couple divorced in 1982.
Laurie died in Los Angeles on October 14, 2023, at age 91.
