Piper Laurie
Encyclopedia
Piper Laurie is an American
actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks
and the films The Hustler
, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God
, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations. In 1991, she won a Golden Globe Award
for her portrayal of Catherine Martell in Twin Peaks.
, the daughter of Charlotte Sadie (née Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer. Her grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Poland on her father's side and Russia on her mother's. Her father moved the family to Los Angeles, California
in 1938. The young Rosetta was red-haired and naturally attractive, but socially hesitant. She attended Hebrew school, and to combat her shyness her parents provided her with weekly elocution lessons; this activity eventually led her to minor roles at nearby Universal Studios
.
, with Ronald Reagan
(whom she dated a few times before his marriage to Nancy Davis
). Several other roles followed: Francis Goes to the Races
(1951, co-starring Donald O'Connor
); Son of Ali Baba
(1952, co-starring Tony Curtis
); and Ain't Misbehavin'
(1955, co-starring Rory Calhoun
).
In an attempt to enhance her public image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that Laurie bathed in milk and ate flower petals, to protect her luminous skin. Discouraged by such vapidity and by the lack of substantial roles, she relocated to New York City
to study acting and to seek work on the stage
and in television
. She appeared in Twelfth Night, produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame
; in Days of Wine and Roses
with Cliff Robertson
, presented by Playhouse 90
on 2 October 1958; in Winterset
, presented by Playhouse 90 in 1959.
She was again lured to Hollywood by the offer to co-star with Paul Newman
in The Hustler
, which was released in 1961. She played Newman's crippled girlfriend, Sarah Packard, and for her performance she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Substantial movie roles did not come her way after The Hustler, so she and her husband moved to New York State. However, she was offered, and accepted, the role of Margaret White, the authoritarian and fanatically religious mother of Carrie, in the movie of that name which was released in 1976. She received an Oscar nomination (Best Female Supporting Actor) for that role.
After her 1981 divorce, Laurie relocated to California. In 1986, she received a third Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Norman in Children of a Lesser God
. That same year she was awarded an Emmy
for her performance in Promise
, a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie which also starred James Garner
and James Woods
.
In 1965, she starred in a Broadway
revival of Tennessee Williams
' The Glass Menagerie
opposite Maureen Stapleton
, Pat Hingle
and George Grizzard
. 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 1964, Laurie appeared in two medical drama
s, as Alicia Carter in the episode "My Door Is Locked and Bolted" on the NBC
series The Eleventh Hour
and as Alice Marin in the episode "The Summer House" on the ABC
program Breaking Point.
Laurie appeared in the Australia
n film Tim
(1979) opposite Mel Gibson
. She starred as the devious Catherine Martell in David Lynch
's television series Twin Peaks
. Following the character's supposed death in a mill fire at the end of the first season, the actress (under heavy makeup) returned as "Fumio Yamaguchi," playing the mysterious Mr. Tojamura, who would eventually be revealed to be Catherine Martell in disguise. She also appeared in 1991's Other People's Money
with Gregory Peck and in horror maestro Dario Argento
's first American film Trauma
, along with the director's daughter Asia Argento
.
Laurie portrayed the mother of George Clooney
's character on ER
. In 1998, she appeared in the sci-fi thriller The Faculty
. She later made a series of guest appearances on television shows including Matlock
, Frasier
, State of Grace, Will & Grace
, Cold Case, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
. She returned to the big screen for independent films such as Eulogy
and The Dead Girl
.
She has appeared in over 50 movies and scores of television shows.
Entertainment writer Joe Morgenstern
. She was attracted to him, and nine months after the interview they were married (January 21, 1962). When no substantial roles came her way after The Hustler, she and Morgenstern relocated to Woodstock, New York
. A daughter, Anne, was born to the couple in 1971. In 1981 the couple divorced, after which she relocated to the Hollywood area and continued working in films and television. As of 2010, she still resides in Southern California; her daughter is in New York.
, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her role in the 1986 TV movie Promise opposite James Garner
and James Woods
. In addition, she received several Emmy nominations, including one for playing in 1981 Magda Goebbels
, wife of Joseph Goebbels
, in The Bunker, opposite Anthony Hopkins
as Hitler; for her role in the miniseries
The Thorn Birds
; two for her work in Twin Peaks
and a nomination for her guest appearance on Frasier
. She has been nominated for an Academy Award in three films.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actress of stage and screen known for her roles in the television series Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
and the films The Hustler
The Hustler (film)
The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
, Carrie, and Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:...
, all of which brought her Academy Award nominations. In 1991, she won a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
for her portrayal of Catherine Martell in Twin Peaks.
Early life
Laurie was born in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, the daughter of Charlotte Sadie (née Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer. Her grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Poland on her father's side and Russia on her mother's. Her father moved the family to Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
in 1938. The young Rosetta was red-haired and naturally attractive, but socially hesitant. She attended Hebrew school, and to combat her shyness her parents provided her with weekly elocution lessons; this activity eventually led her to minor roles at nearby Universal Studios
Universal Studios
Universal Pictures , a subsidiary of NBCUniversal, is one of the six major movie studios....
.
Career
In 1949, Rosetta Jacobs signed a contract with Universal Studios, in which her screen name was changed to Piper Laurie, by which she has been known professionally since then. Her breakout role was in LouisaLouisa (film)
Louisa is a 1950 comedy film directed by Alexander Hall and starring Ronald Reagan and Spring Byington in the title role. This film was Piper Larie's film debut. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Louisa is a 1950 comedy film directed by Alexander Hall and starring Ronald Reagan...
, with Ronald Reagan
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
(whom she dated a few times before his marriage to Nancy Davis
Nancy Reagan
Nancy Davis Reagan is the widow of former United States President Ronald Reagan and was First Lady of the United States from 1981 to 1989....
). Several other roles followed: Francis Goes to the Races
Francis Goes to the Races
Francis Goes to the Races is a 1951 comedy film about a talking mule and his human sidekick at the racetrack. It is a sequel of Francis and stars Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, and Cecil Kellaway.-Cast:*Donald O'Connor as Peter Stirling...
(1951, co-starring Donald O'Connor
Donald O'Connor
Donald David Dixon Ronald O’Connor was an American dancer, singer, and actor who came to fame in a series of movies in which he co-starred alternately with Gloria Jean, Peggy Ryan, and Francis the Talking Mule...
); Son of Ali Baba
Son of Ali Baba
Son of Ali Baba is a 1952 film starring Tony Curtis. In it he has a line about the palace of his father, which an urban legend has transferred to his better known film The Black Shield of Falworth. This was Tony Curtis' first film in the lead....
(1952, co-starring Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis
Tony Curtis was an American film actor whose career spanned six decades, but had his greatest popularity during the 1950s and early 1960s. He acted in over 100 films in roles covering a wide range of genres, from light comedy to serious drama...
); and Ain't Misbehavin'
Ain't Misbehavin' (film)
Ain't Misbehavin is a 1955 musical film released by Universal Studios and starring Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, Jack Carson and Mamie Van Doren.-Cast:* Rory Calhoun as Kenneth Post* Piper Laurie as Sarah Bernhardt Hatfield* Jack Carson as Hal North...
(1955, co-starring Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun
Rory Calhoun was an American television and film actor, screenwriter and producer, best known for his roles in Westerns.-Early life:...
).
In an attempt to enhance her public image, Universal Studios told gossip columnists that Laurie bathed in milk and ate flower petals, to protect her luminous skin. Discouraged by such vapidity and by the lack of substantial roles, she relocated to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to study acting and to seek work on the stage
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
and in television
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
. She appeared in Twelfth Night, produced by Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame
Hallmark Hall of Fame is an anthology program on American television, sponsored by Hallmark Cards, a Kansas City based greeting card company. The second longest-running television program in the history of television, it has a historically long run, beginning in 1951 and continuing into 2011...
; in Days of Wine and Roses
Days of Wine and Roses (1958 TV drama)
Days of Wine and Roses was an acclaimed 1958 teleplay by JP Miller which dramatized the problems of alcoholism. John Frankenheimer directed the cast headed by Cliff Robertson, Piper Laurie and Charles Bickford....
with Cliff Robertson
Cliff Robertson
Clifford Parker "Cliff" Robertson III was an American actor with a film and television career that spanned half of a century. Robertson portrayed a young John F. Kennedy in the 1963 film PT 109, and won the 1968 Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in the movie Charly...
, presented by Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90
Playhouse 90 is an American television anthology series that was telecast on CBS from 1956 to 1960 for a total of 133 episodes. It originated from CBS Television City in Los Angeles, California...
on 2 October 1958; in Winterset
Winterset (play)
Winterset is a play by Maxwell Anderson.A verse drama written largely in poetic form, the tragedy deals indirectly with the famous Sacco-Vanzetti case, in which two Italian immigrants with radical political beliefs were executed...
, presented by Playhouse 90 in 1959.
She was again lured to Hollywood by the offer to co-star with Paul Newman
Paul Newman
Paul Leonard Newman was an American actor, film director, entrepreneur, humanitarian, professional racing driver and auto racing enthusiast...
in The Hustler
The Hustler (film)
The Hustler is a 1961 American drama film directed by Robert Rossen from the 1959 novel of the same name he and Sidney Carroll adapted for the screen...
, which was released in 1961. She played Newman's crippled girlfriend, Sarah Packard, and for her performance she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Substantial movie roles did not come her way after The Hustler, so she and her husband moved to New York State. However, she was offered, and accepted, the role of Margaret White, the authoritarian and fanatically religious mother of Carrie, in the movie of that name which was released in 1976. She received an Oscar nomination (Best Female Supporting Actor) for that role.
After her 1981 divorce, Laurie relocated to California. In 1986, she received a third Oscar nomination for her portrayal of Mrs. Norman in Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God
Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:...
. That same year she was awarded an Emmy
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
for her performance in Promise
Promise (film)
Promise is a 1986 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on December 14, 1986. The award-winning film is based on a story by Ken Blackwell and Tennyson Flowers, and stars James Garner and James Woods.-Plot:...
, a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie which also starred James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
.
In 1965, she starred in a Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
revival of Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
' The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie
The Glass Menagerie is a four-character memory play by Tennessee Williams. Williams worked on various drafts of the play prior to writing a version of it as a screenplay for MGM, to whom Williams was contracted...
opposite Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton
Maureen Stapleton was an American actress in film, theater and television.-Early life:Stapleton was born Lois Maureen Stapleton in Troy, New York, the daughter of Irene and John P. Stapleton, and grew up in a strict Irish American Catholic family...
, Pat Hingle
Pat Hingle
Martin Patterson "Pat" Hingle was an American actor.-Early life:Hingle was born Martin Patterson Hingle in Miami, Florida, the son of Marvin Louise , a schoolteacher and musician, and Clarence Martin Hingle, a building contractor. Hingle enlisted in the U.S. Navy in December 1941, dropping out of...
and George Grizzard
George Grizzard
George Cooper Grizzard, Jr. was an American actor of film and stage. He appeared in more than 40 films, dozens of television programs and a number of Broadway plays.-Life and career:...
. She had a featured role in the Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway
Off-Broadway theater is a term for a professional venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, and for a specific production of a play, musical or revue that appears in such a venue, and which adheres to related trade union and other contracts...
production of The Destiny of Me
The Destiny of Me
The Destiny of Me is a play by Larry Kramer. It focuses on Ned Weeks, a character introduced in The Normal Heart, as he checks into the National Institutes of Health to undergo an experimental treatment for AIDS...
in 1992, and returned to Broadway for Lincoln Center's acclaimed 2002 revival of Paul Osborn
Paul Osborn
Paul Osborn was an American playwright and screenwriter best known for writing the screen adaptation of East of Eden as well as South Pacific, The Yearling, The World of Suzie Wong and Sayonara....
's Morning's at Seven
Morning's at Seven
Morning's at Seven is a play by Paul Osborn.Its plot focuses on four aging sisters living in a small Midwestern town in 1938, and it deals with ramifications within the family when two of them begin to question their lives and decide to make some changes before it’s too late.The original Broadway...
with Julie Hagerty
Julie Hagerty
Julie Hagerty is an American actress and former model.-Early life:Hagerty was born in Cincinnati, Ohio, the daughter of Harriet Yuellig, a model and singer, and Jerry Hagerty, a musician. Her brother Michael Hagerty was also an actor. Her parents later divorced. Hagerty attended Indian Hill High...
, Buck Henry
Buck Henry
Henry Zuckerman, better known as Buck Henry , is an American actor, writer, film director, and television director.-Early life:...
, Frances Sternhagen
Frances Sternhagen
Frances Hussey Sternhagen is an American actress. Sternhagen has appeared on and off Broadway, in movies, and on TV since the 1950s.-Personal life:...
and Estelle Parsons
Estelle Parsons
Estelle Margaret Parsons is an American theatre, film and television actress and occasional theatrical director.After studying law, Parsons became a singer before deciding to pursue a career in acting. She worked for the television program Today and made her stage debut in 1961...
.
In 1964, Laurie appeared in two medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
s, as Alicia Carter in the episode "My Door Is Locked and Bolted" on the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
series The Eleventh Hour
The Eleventh Hour (1962 TV series)
The Eleventh Hour is an American medical drama about psychiatry starring Wendell Corey, Jack Ging, and Ralph Bellamy, which aired sixty-two new episodes plus selected rebroadcasts on NBC from October 3, 1962, to September 9, 1964.-Series premise:...
and as Alice Marin in the episode "The Summer House" on the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
program Breaking Point.
Laurie appeared in the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n film Tim
Tim (film)
Tim is an Australian romantic drama film. Released in 1979, it was written and directed by Michael Pate, based on the 1974 novel by Colleen McCullough....
(1979) opposite Mel Gibson
Mel Gibson
Mel Colm-Cille Gerard Gibson, AO is an American actor, film director, producer and screenwriter. Born in Peekskill, New York, Gibson moved with his parents to Sydney, Australia when he was 12 years old and later studied acting at the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Art.After appearing in...
. She starred as the devious Catherine Martell in David Lynch
David Lynch
David Keith Lynch is an American filmmaker, television director, visual artist, musician and occasional actor. Known for his surrealist films, he has developed his own unique cinematic style, which has been dubbed "Lynchian", and which is characterized by its dream imagery and meticulous sound...
's television series Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
. Following the character's supposed death in a mill fire at the end of the first season, the actress (under heavy makeup) returned as "Fumio Yamaguchi," playing the mysterious Mr. Tojamura, who would eventually be revealed to be Catherine Martell in disguise. She also appeared in 1991's Other People's Money
Other People's Money
Other People's Money is a 1991 drama/romantic comedy film starring Danny DeVito, Penelope Ann Miller and Gregory Peck. It is based on the play of the same name by Jerry Sterner. The director was Norman Jewison and the screenplay was credited to Alvin Sargent.-Plot:Corporate raider Lawrence...
with Gregory Peck and in horror maestro Dario Argento
Dario Argento
Dario Argento is an Italian film director, producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work in the horror film genre, particularly in the subgenre known as giallo, and for his influence on modern horror and slasher movies....
's first American film Trauma
Trauma (1993 film)
Trauma is a 1993 film directed by Dario Argento who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film can be described as a giallo, that is a film with influences from the horror, mystery, and thriller genres.-Plot synopsis:...
, along with the director's daughter Asia Argento
Asia Argento
Aria Asia Anna Maria Vittoria Rossa Argento is an Italian actress, singer, model and director.-Family and early life:...
.
Laurie portrayed the mother of George Clooney
George Clooney
George Timothy Clooney is an American actor, film director, producer, and screenwriter. For his work as an actor, he has received two Golden Globe Awards and an Academy Award...
's character on ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. In 1998, she appeared in the sci-fi thriller The Faculty
The Faculty
The Faculty is a 1998 science fiction horror film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Robert Rodriguez...
. She later made a series of guest appearances on television shows including Matlock
Matlock (TV series)
Matlock is an American television legal drama, starring Andy Griffith in the title role of attorney Ben Matlock. The show originally aired from September 23, 1986 to May 8, 1992 on NBC, where it replaced The A-Team, then from November 5, 1992 until May 7, 1995 on ABC.The show's format was similar...
, Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
, State of Grace, Will & Grace
Will & Grace
Will & Grace was an American television sitcom that was originally broadcast on NBC from September 21, 1998 to May 18, 2006 for a total of eight seasons. Will & Grace remains the most successful television series with gay principal characters...
, Cold Case, and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
. She returned to the big screen for independent films such as Eulogy
Eulogy (film)
-Plot:The film opens with Kate Collins walking up to a house. She knocks and a woman answers the door. Kate explains that although she doesn't know her she has a long story to explain....
and The Dead Girl
The Dead Girl
The Dead Girl is a 2006 American film written and directed by Karen Moncrieff, starring Brittany Murphy, Toni Collette, Rose Byrne and Marcia Gay Harden. The film was nominated for several 2007 Independent Spirit Awards awards including Best Feature and Best Director. It is the story of a young...
.
She has appeared in over 50 movies and scores of television shows.
Personal life
When The Hustler was being released (1961), Laurie was interviewed by New York Herald TribuneNew York Herald Tribune
The New York Herald Tribune was a daily newspaper created in 1924 when the New York Tribune acquired the New York Herald.Other predecessors, which had earlier merged into the New York Tribune, included the original The New Yorker newsweekly , and the Whig Party's Log Cabin.The paper was home to...
Entertainment writer Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern
Joe Morgenstern is a Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic for The Wall Street Journal.-Career:Morgenstern graduated from Lehigh University in 1953. His first journalism experience was as news clerk at the New York Times...
. She was attracted to him, and nine months after the interview they were married (January 21, 1962). When no substantial roles came her way after The Hustler, she and Morgenstern relocated to Woodstock, New York
Woodstock, New York
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States. The population was 5,884 at the 2010 census, down from 6,241 at the 2000 census.The Town of Woodstock is in the northern part of the county...
. A daughter, Anne, was born to the couple in 1971. In 1981 the couple divorced, after which she relocated to the Hollywood area and continued working in films and television. As of 2010, she still resides in Southern California; her daughter is in New York.
Quote
"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. I know some producers and directors said, 'Well, maybe she can act even if her name is Piper Laurie!'"Awards
Laurie won an Emmy AwardEmmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
, for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Special for her role in the 1986 TV movie Promise opposite James Garner
James Garner
James Garner is an American film and television actor, one of the first Hollywood actors to excel in both media. He has starred in several television series spanning a career of more than five decades...
and James Woods
James Woods
James Howard Woods is an American film, stage and television actor. Woods is known for starring in critically acclaimed films such as Once Upon a Time in America, Salvador, Nixon, Ghosts of Mississippi, Casino, and in the television legal drama Shark. He has won three Emmy Awards, and has gained...
. In addition, she received several Emmy nominations, including one for playing in 1981 Magda Goebbels
Magda Goebbels
Johanna Maria Magdalena "Magda" Goebbels was the wife of Nazi Germany's Propaganda Minister Joseph Goebbels...
, wife of Joseph Goebbels
Joseph Goebbels
Paul Joseph Goebbels was a German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. As one of Adolf Hitler's closest associates and most devout followers, he was known for his zealous oratory and anti-Semitism...
, in The Bunker, opposite Anthony Hopkins
Anthony Hopkins
Sir Philip Anthony Hopkins, KBE , best known as Anthony Hopkins, is a Welsh actor of film, stage and television...
as Hitler; for her role in the miniseries
Miniseries
A miniseries , in a serial storytelling medium, is a television show production which tells a story in a limited number of episodes. The exact number is open to interpretation; however, they are usually limited to fewer than a whole season. The term "miniseries" is generally a North American term...
The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds
The Thorn Birds is a 1977 best-selling novel by Colleen McCullough, an Australian author.In 1983 it was adapted as a television mini-series that, during its television run 27–30 March, became the United States' second highest rated mini-series of all time behind Roots; both series were produced by...
; two for her work in Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks
Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer...
and a nomination for her guest appearance on Frasier
Frasier
Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars...
. She has been nominated for an Academy Award in three films.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1950 | Louisa Louisa (film) Louisa is a 1950 comedy film directed by Alexander Hall and starring Ronald Reagan and Spring Byington in the title role. This film was Piper Larie's film debut. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Sound Louisa is a 1950 comedy film directed by Alexander Hall and starring Ronald Reagan... |
Cathy Norton | |
| 1950 | Chris Abbott | ||
| 1951 | Francis Goes to the Races Francis Goes to the Races Francis Goes to the Races is a 1951 comedy film about a talking mule and his human sidekick at the racetrack. It is a sequel of Francis and stars Donald O'Connor, Piper Laurie, and Cecil Kellaway.-Cast:*Donald O'Connor as Peter Stirling... |
Frances Travers | |
| 1951 | Tina | ||
| 1952 | Has Anybody Seen My Gal? Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (film) Has Anybody Seen My Gal? is a 1952 film comedy film directed by Douglas Sirk, and starring Piper Laurie, Rock Hudson, Lynn Bari, and Charles Coburn. Set in the 1920s, the film is named after The California Ramblers jazz tune Has Anybody Seen My Gal?.... |
Millicent Blaisdell | |
| 1952 | Son of Ali Baba Son of Ali Baba Son of Ali Baba is a 1952 film starring Tony Curtis. In it he has a line about the palace of his father, which an urban legend has transferred to his better known film The Black Shield of Falworth. This was Tony Curtis' first film in the lead.... |
Princess Azura of Fez/Kiki | |
| 1952 | No Room for the Groom | Lee Kingshead | |
| 1953 | Khairuzan | ||
| 1953 | Angelique 'Leia' Dureau | ||
| 1954 | Johnny Dark | Liz Fielding | |
| 1954 | Dangerous Mission | Louise Graham | |
| 1955 | Ain't Misbehavin' Ain't Misbehavin' (film) Ain't Misbehavin is a 1955 musical film released by Universal Studios and starring Rory Calhoun, Piper Laurie, Jack Carson and Mamie Van Doren.-Cast:* Rory Calhoun as Kenneth Post* Piper Laurie as Sarah Bernhardt Hatfield* Jack Carson as Hal North... |
Sarah Bernhardt Hatfield | |
| 1955 | Until They Sail Until They Sail Until They Sail is a 1957 American black and white CinemaScope drama film directed by Robert Wise. The screenplay by Robert Anderson, based on a story by James A. Michener included in his 1951 anthology Return to Paradise, focuses on four New Zealand sisters and their relationships with U.S... |
Delia Leslie Friskett | |
| 1961 | Sarah Packard | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... Nominated — Golden Laurel Award Laurel Awards The Laurel Awards were cinema awards to honor pictures, actors, actresses, directors and composers. This award was created by Motion Picture Exhibitor magazine, and ran from 1958 to 1968, then 1970 and 1971.... for Top Female Dramatic Performance |
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| 1976 | Carrie | Margaret White | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
| 1977 | Ruby Ruby (1977 film) Ruby is a 1977 horror drama film directed by Curtis Harrington, which was one of his last horror films. The film centres around a woman named Ruby Claire who is the mother of a deaf-mute girl... |
Ruby Claire | |
| 1979 | Tim Tim (film) Tim is an Australian romantic drama film. Released in 1979, it was written and directed by Michael Pate, based on the 1974 novel by Colleen McCullough.... |
Mary Horton | |
| 1983 | Anne Mueller | Television miniseries Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie |
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| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
archival flashback | |
| 1985 | Return to Oz Return to Oz Return to Oz is a 1985 film which is an unofficial sequel to Victor Fleming's The Wizard of Oz. The film is based on the second and third Oz books, The Marvelous Land of Oz and Ozma of Oz... |
Aunt Em | |
| 1985 | Toughlove | Darlene Marsh | Television film |
| 1985 | Aunt Neva (segment "The Burning Man") | Television series | |
| 1986 | Children of a Lesser God Children of a Lesser God Children of a Lesser God is a 1986 American romantic drama film directed by Randa Haines and written by Hesper Anderson and Mark Medoff. An adaptation of Medoff's Tony Award-winning stage play of the same name, the film stars William Hurt and Marlee Matlin as two employees at a school for the deaf:... |
Mrs. Norman | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... |
| 1986 | Promise Promise (film) Promise is a 1986 Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie that aired on December 14, 1986. The award-winning film is based on a story by Ken Blackwell and Tennyson Flowers, and stars James Garner and James Woods.-Plot:... |
Annie Gilbert | Television series Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film |
| 1988 | Appointment with Death Appointment With Death (film) Appointment with Death is a 1988 mystery film, made by Golan-Globus Productions and produced and directed by Michael Winner. It is an adaptation of the Agatha Christie novel Appointment with Death featuring the detective Hercule Poirot... |
Emily Boynton | |
| 1989 | Dream a Little Dream Dream a Little Dream Dream a Little Dream is a 1989 teen film directed by Marc Rocco and stars Jason Robards, Corey Feldman, Piper Laurie, Meredith Salenger, Harry Dean Stanton and Corey Haim. It was filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina. Released in 1,019 theaters, it accumulated $5,552,441. This was the third film... |
Gena Ettinger | |
| 1990–91 | Twin Peaks Twin Peaks Twin Peaks is an American television serial drama created by David Lynch and Mark Frost. The series follows the investigation headed by FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper , of the murder of a popular teenager and homecoming queen, Laura Palmer... |
Catherine Martell / Mr. Tojamura / Tojamura | TV Series Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1990,1991) Nominated — Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actress : Prime Time Soap Opera Digest Awards The Soap Opera Digest Awards were an awards show held by the daytime television magazine Soap Opera Digest. The awards were founded in 1984 to replace the less-lavish Soapy Award; those awards shows had run since 1977. The Soap Opera Digest Awards are meant to promote excellence in the soap opera... (1991,1992) |
| 1991 | Other People's Money Other People's Money Other People's Money is a 1991 drama/romantic comedy film starring Danny DeVito, Penelope Ann Miller and Gregory Peck. It is based on the play of the same name by Jerry Sterner. The director was Norman Jewison and the screenplay was credited to Alvin Sargent.-Plot:Corporate raider Lawrence... |
Bea Sullivan | |
| 1992 | Storyville Storyville Storyville was the red-light district of New Orleans, Louisiana, from 1897 through 1917. Locals usually simply referred to the area as The District.-History:... |
Constance Fowler | |
| 1992 | Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me | Catherine Martell / Mr. Tojamura / Tojamura | her scenes were deleted from the final cut |
| 1993 | Wrestling Ernest Hemingway Wrestling Ernest Hemingway Wrestling Ernest Hemingway is a 1993 drama-romance film directed by Randa Haines and written by Steve Conrad, starring Richard Harris, Robert Duvall, Sandra Bullock, Shirley MacLaine, and Piper Laurie.-Plot:... |
Georgia | |
| 1993 | Trauma Trauma (1993 film) Trauma is a 1993 film directed by Dario Argento who also co-wrote the screenplay. The film can be described as a giallo, that is a film with influences from the horror, mystery, and thriller genres.-Plot synopsis:... |
Adriana Petrescu | |
| 1995 | Dolly Talbo | Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actress The Southeastern Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the awards given by the Southeastern Film Critics Association to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-Winners:-2000s:-2010s:... |
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| 1995 | Fighting For My Daughter | Judge Edna Burton | Television film |
| 1998 | Mrs. Karen Olson | ||
| 2004 | Dead Like Me Dead Like Me Dead Like Me was an American-Canadian comedy-drama television series starring Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin as grim reapers who reside and work in Seattle, Washington. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show was created by Bryan Fuller for the Showtime network, where it ran for two seasons... |
Nina Rommey | Television series |
| 2004 | Eulogy Eulogy (film) -Plot:The film opens with Kate Collins walking up to a house. She knocks and a woman answers the door. Kate explains that although she doesn't know her she has a long story to explain.... |
Charlotte Collins | |
| 2006 | Arden's Mother | ||
| 2006 | Cold Case | Rose Collins | Episode: "Best Friends" |
| 2007 | Hounddog | Grammie | |
| 2008 | Saving Grace Saving Grace (2008 film) Saving Grace B. Jones is an independent feature written, produced, and directed by Connie Stevens. The film made its world premiere in the Philadelphia Film Festival/Cinefest on March 28, 2009 and will be screening in the 18th annual St. Louis International Film Festival on November 20, 2009. ... |
Marta | |
| 2011 | Hesher Hesher (film) Hesher is a 2010 American dark comedy/drama film written and directed by Spencer Susser and starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Rainn Wilson, and Natalie Portman. First screened at the Sundance Film Festival January 22, 2010, the film was released in the United States on May 13, 2011... |
Madeleine Forney |