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IMDbPro

Piper Laurie

  • Actress
  • Director
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0002198
Piper Laurie at an event for Hounddog (2007)
When a grandmother's secret past collides with her granddaughter's secret future and her daughter's angry present, can the love of three generations be enough to accept decades of deceit. With a simple roll of film it begins.
Play trailer2:01
Snapshots (2018)
19 Videos
99+ Photos
Piper Laurie is a three-time Oscar nominee, nominated by BAFTA as well as the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for best performance by an actress in 'The Hustler' with Paul Newman.

Laurie was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit, Michigan, to Charlotte Sadie (Alperin) and Alfred Jacobs, a furniture dealer. Her family is of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent. Piper had been studying acting with Benno and Betomi Schnider for three years when she auditioned for Universal Studios, who signed her to a long term contract. They made more than twenty films starring the teenage girl opposite such actors as Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson and Tyrone Power. Disgusted with the lack of serious roles, Laurie finally broke her lucrative Hollywood contract, moved to New York, lived on a budget, worked on live television and theater, and within two years changed her life and her career.

She stopped working for fifteen years after 'The Hustler' to devote her energies to the Civil Rights movement and to the Vietnam War, feeling acting was less important. When she accepted work again she was nominated for an Academy Award as best supporting actress for the original 'Carrie' with Sissy Spacek, and again as best supporting actress in 'Children of a Lesser God' with Marlee Matlin. She won the Golden Globe for her role in the David Lynch cult favorite "Twin Peaks' and was nominated for an Emmy for both best actress and best supporting actress in 'Twin Peaks." She has been nominated twelve times for an Emmy, including one for the original and celebrated live broadcast of 'The Days of Wine and Roses' with Cliff Robertson, directed by John Frankenheimer, as well as for her comedic performance in 'Frasier'. She won the Emmy for 'Promise' opposite James Woods and James Garner. She was Harvard's Hasty Pudding Woman of the Year, and she also received an SFECA award for her performance as Dolly in the film of 'The Grass Harp'.

In 2010 she played an ancient grandma who learns to smoke a bong in the feature film 'Hesher', with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman. Most recently she has appeared as Grandma Hershe in White Boy Rick, starring Matthew McConaughey, and as Rose Muller in Snapshots, directed by Melanie Mayron.

In 2013 she made her musical stage debut in 'A Little Night Music' as the glamorous Madame Armfeldt.

Ms. Laurie performed on Broadway in the Tony-nominated Lincoln Center production of 'Mornings at Seven' directed by Dan Sullivan at the Lyceum Theatre. She also appeared on Broadway in the 20th Anniversary production of 'The Glass Menagerie', in which she played Laura, with Maureen Stapleton as Amanda, at the Brooks Atkinson.

Off-Broadway, she has appeared in Molly Kazan's 'Rosemary and the Alligators', Larry Kramer's 'The Destiny of Me'. She toured in a one-person play about Zelda Fitzgerald, written by Bill Luce. In 2010 she directed Jim Brochu in his one-man show 'Zero Hour', for which he received the Drama Desk Award for best solo performance on or off Broadway, playing Zero Mostel.

Piper Laurie is divorced from Wall Street Journal's movie critic, Pulitzer Prize-winner Joe Morgenstern. Their daughter lives in Oregon. Laurie's autobiography Learning to Live Out Loud was published by Crown in 2011 to rave reviews and is now available as an audio book on audible.com.
BornJanuary 22, 1932
  • More at IMDbPro
    • Contact info
    • Agent info
    • Resume
BornJanuary 22, 1932
IMDbProStarmeter
Top 5,0002198
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Nominated for 3 Oscars

Horror Villains Through the Years

Horror Villains Through the Years

Even bad guys have to change their look from time to time. Check out the evolution of Hollywood's biggest villains through the years.
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Photos

Photos176

Piper Laurie in Ruby (1977)
Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie, Don Mancini, and Katelyn Nacon in Chilling Children (2020)
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)
Piper Laurie in Carrie (1976)

Known for

Paul Newman in The Hustler (1961)
The Hustler
8.0
  • Sarah Packard
  • 1961
Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)
Carrie
7.4
  • Margaret White
  • 1976
Twin Peaks (1990)
Twin Peaks
8.8
TV Series
  • Catherine Martell
  • Mr. Tojamura
Elijah Wood, Josh Hartnett, Shawn Hatosy, Jordana Brewster, Clea DuVall, Laura Harris, and Usher in The Faculty (1998)
The Faculty
6.5
  • Mrs. Karen Olson
  • 1998

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actress

  • Around the Sun (2021)
    Around the Sun
    • (voice)
  • Carcerem (2020)
    Carcerem
    • (voice)
  • Matthew McConaughey and Richie Merritt in White Boy Rick (2018)
    White Boy Rick
  • Lucas Till in MacGyver (2016)
    MacGyver
  • Snapshots (2018)
    Snapshots
  • Bad Blood (2012)
    Bad Blood
  • Ernest Borgnine, Piper Laurie, Cybill Shepherd, and Doris Roberts in Another Harvest Moon (2010)
    Another Harvest Moon
  • Joseph Gordon-Levitt in Hesher (2010)
    Hesher
  • Saving Grace B. Jones (2009)
    Saving Grace B. Jones
  • Dakota Fanning in Hounddog (2007)
    Hounddog
  • Toni Collette in The Dead Girl (2006)
    The Dead Girl
  • Cold Case (2003)
    Cold Case
  • Dead Like Me (2003)
    Dead Like Me
  • Hank Azaria, Famke Janssen, Kelly Preston, Debra Winger, Ray Romano, and Zooey Deschanel in Eulogy (2004)
    Eulogy
  • State of Grace (2001)
    State of Grace

Director

  • Property

Soundtrack

  • Dead Like Me (2003)
    Dead Like Me
  • Ruby (1977)
    Ruby
  • Sissy Spacek in Carrie (1976)
    Carrie
    • (uncredited)
  • Steve Allen in Allen in Movieland (1955)
    Allen in Movieland
  • Rock Hudson, Piper Laurie, and Charles Coburn in Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)
    Has Anybody Seen My Gal
    • (uncredited)
  • Piper Laurie, Jimmy Durante, Joyce Holden, and Donald O'Connor in The Milkman (1950)
    The Milkman
  • In-development projects at IMDbPro

Videos20

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Official Trailer
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Trailer 1:47
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:21
Official Trailer
Theatrical Trailer
Trailer 1:34
Theatrical Trailer
Hesher
Trailer 1:44
Hesher
Carrie
Trailer 1:26
Carrie
Carrie
Trailer 2:03
Carrie
The Faculty
Trailer 1:04
The Faculty

Personal details

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    • Twitter
    • January 22, 1932
    • Detroit, Michigan, USA
    • Joe MorgensternJanuary 21, 1962 - November 24, 1982 (divorced, 1 child)
  • Other works
    (4/02): Stage: Appeared (as "Esther Crampton") in "Morning's at Seven", a play by Paul Osborn, on Broadway. Lyceum Theater, New York City.
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Print Biography
    • 2 Interviews
    • 1 Pictorial
    • 5 Magazine Cover Photos

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    In her 2011 autobiography, "Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir", she revealed that she and Mel Gibson had a one-night stand while working together on the movie Tim (1979), despite their almost-25-year age difference and the fact that she was married at the time.
  • Quotes
    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!'
    • Frequently plays young ladies who were either rescued by men or who have fallen in love with men
    • Carrie
      (1976)
      $10,000

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