'Carrie' and 'Twin Peaks' Star Piper Laurie Dead at 91
Piper Laurie
Piper Laurie, best known for her iconic roles in Carrie and Twin Peaks, has died after a long, unspecified illness. She was 91.
Her manager Marion Rosenberg confirmed the news to various outlets, including the Associated Press, sharing that the actress passed away at her home in Los Angeles on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 14. In her statement, Rosenberg described her late client as "a beautiful human being and one of the great talents of our time."
Laurie, whose real name was Rosetta Jacobs, was born in Detroit, Michigan on January 22, 1932. Her venture into acting began when her parents enrolled her in weekly elocution classes to combat her shyness. At 17 years old, she signed a contract with Universal Studios, adopting her stage name. Her debut film role arrived in 1950 in the Ronald Reagan-led comedy Louisa.
However, her first big role onscreen came over 10 years later, in 1961, when she co-starred alongside Paul Newman in 1961's The Hustler. She earned her first Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her role as Sarah Packard in the film.
After struggling to find film roles post-The Hustler she turned to TV, appearing in The Eleventh Hour and Breaking Point. She returned to movies in 1976 with the spine-chilling role of Margaret White, the titular character's mother in Carrie. She received her second Academy Award nomination for it, this time for Best Supporting Actress. The career-defining role turned her into a horror icon.
Her success in Carrie led to more major roles, including as Willa Norman in Children of a Lesser God, for which she received another Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress. However, it wasn't until 1990 that she played her second biggest role: Catherine Martell in David Lynch's cult classic series Twin Peaks.
The Hollywood veteran's final role was in the scripted podcast series Around the Sun, which aired its final episode with the late actress earlier this year, called "Intelligent Life."
Laurie is survived by her daughter, Anne Grace.
