Oscar-Nominated Actress Piper Laurie Dies at 91
Laurie was nominated for three Academy Awards and won one Emmy Award out of nine nominations.
Piper Laurie - an Emmy-winning and multiple Oscar-nominated actress - has died today. Her manager Marion Rosenberg shared the news. She was 91.
Across three decades, she was nominated for three Academy Awards for her acting - 1961’s The Hustler, 1976’s Carrie and 1986’s Children of a Lesser God. Notably, she made her acting debut in the 1950 film Louisa opposite Ronald Reagan. However, she went on to have a much more successful career after she broke out of the Hollywood studio system.
Her additional film credits include 1957’s Until They Sail, 1977’s Ruby, 1985’s Return to Oz, 1991’s Other People’s Money, 1993’s Wrestling Ernest Hemingway, 1995’s The Crossing Guard, 1995’s The Grass Harp, 2004’s Eulogy, 2006’s The Dead Girl, 2007’s Hounddog, and 2010’s Hesher.
Laurie memorably portrayed Catherine Martell in David Lynch’s ABC drama Twin Peaks - which netted two of her nine Emmy Award nominations. Her sole Emmy win came for her supporting role in the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Promise in 1986. She received additional Emmy nominations for the TV films The Bunker and The Thorn Birds as well as her guest appearances in CBS’ Studio One, CBS’ Playhouse 90, NBC’s St. Elsewhere and NBC’s Frasier.
She also guest starred on CBS’ General Electric Theater, CBS’ Murder, She Wrote, CBS’ The Twilight Zone, NBC’s Matlock, NBC’s ER, CBS’ Touched by an Angel, NBC’s Will & Grace, NBC’s Law & Order: SVU and CBS’ Cold Case.
Laurie married film critic Joe Morgenstern in 1962. She left the industry for over a decade to focus on raising a family. They moved to Woodstock, New York and adopted a daughter Anne Grace Morgenstern in 1971. The couple divorced in 1982.