Piper Laurie, the celebrated actress known for her chilling portrayal of the overbearingly religious mother in “Carrie” and for playing Paul Newman’s down-in-the-dumps girlfriend in “The Hustler,” has died at 91, her manager said.
Laurie died early Saturday in Los Angeles, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, confirmed to CNN. No cause of death was provided.
Laurie will be remembered as “one of the finest actresses of her generation and a superb human being,” Rosenberg said.
Turner Classic Movies, which, like CNN, is part of Warner Brothers Discovery, called Laurie “one of the most celebrated and formidable actresses of the last half-century.” The network praised her “full-blooded performances as flawed, often ferocious women.”
Though she began as a teen starlet in the 1950s, Laurie took a prolonged hiatus from Hollywood after becoming disillusioned by the industry’s treatment of her as a young actress and the flatness of the female roles she was offered. When she reemerged more than a decade later, she quickly reestablished herself through striking embodiments of complex – and sometimes tormented – women.
Critics and colleagues took note: Laurie received Oscar nominations for her riveting performances in “The Hustler” (1961) and “Carrie” (1976). Her third nomination was for her portrayal of a remorseful mother in “Children of a Lesser God” (1986).
She was awarded a Golden Globe for her performance as a vengeful mill owner in television’s “Twin Peaks,” in addition to two Emmy nominations.
Born as Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit in 1932, she assumed the name Piper Laurie at the urging of a manager when she began professionally acting, she wrote in her memoir, “Learning to Live Out Loud.”
