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Piper Laurie, cruel mom in ‘Carrie,’ dies at age 91

October 14, 2023

LOS ANGELES — Actress Piper Laurie, best known for her haunting turn as an abusively devout mother in the 1976 horror classic “Carrie,” died in Los Angeles Saturday at the age of 91, according to multiple media reports.

Laurie had been ill for some time, her manager Marion Rosenberg told reporters.

Rosenberg called her “one of the most remarkable and versatile actresses of her day, a brilliant and creative mind, and a glorious human being.”

Laurie appeared in over 100 films and television shows over her long and varied career. Many of her performances were critically praised, including her role opposite Paul Newman in 1961’s “The Hustler,” a key part in 1986’s “Children of a Lesser God,” and a recurring role in the 1990s television show “Twin Peaks.”

Piper Laurie and Ronald Reagan are seen chatting together at a Hollywood party in March, 1950. The party was honoring Charles Coburn for 60 years in show business. (AP Photo)

Actress Piper Laurie arrives at the premiere of “Hounddog” in New York on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008. (AP Photo/Peter Kramer)

Actress Piper Laurie arrives at the Women in Film Crystal Lucy Awards on Friday June 12, 2009, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Matt Sayles)

Actress Piper Laurie is shown in 1962. (AP Photo)

Working up an appetite before lunch, this quartette of thespians stroll around the studio lot, Aug. 13, 1950. Left to right are: Jimmy Durante, Joyce Holden, Piper Laurie and Donald O’Connor. O’Connor is acting out the name of the film in which all four are working. (AP Photo)

Movie actress Piper Laurie gets a double kiss from two members of her “honor guard” as she cuts the cake at a party to celebrate her 21st birthday, at the 21 Club in New York, Jan. 23, 1953. The guard is made up of: front, left to right, Air Corps Sgt. Richard Hertz of New York, and Marine Sgt. Allen Moree of Orlando, Fla.; rear, left to right, Army Pvt. Leonard O’Sullivan of New York, and Navy S/A Fred Stengel of Brooklyn, New York. Piper is in New York for the opening of her latest film, “Mississippi Gambler,” on January 29. (AP Photo/Ed Ford)

Actress Piper Laurie watches piper Thomas Gorrian of the Lovat Pipe Band as he pipes a tune before the gala world premiere of a 3-D film, “King of the Khyber Rifles,” at the Rivoli Theater in New York, Dec. 23, 1953. (AP Photo/Ed Ford)

The preview-premiere of the new film “The Hollywood Story,” was the occasion to salute the cinema stalwarts who reigned in by-gone days in Hollywood, Calif., May 10, 1951. The Hollywood Chamber of Commerce and the studio got together to express their gratitude to old time stars. Each of the old troupers was escorted to the Academy Awards Theater, where the event was held by a film newcomer. Here Jack Benny, master of ceremonies is shown with young actresses Piper Laurie, and Julia Adams, and Francis X. Bushman, one of the screen’s first great lovers, and now a television and radio actor. (AP Photo/Frank Filan)

Starlet Piper Laurie proved her hand is steady by making this house of cards while waiting for her turn before the Hollywood cameras during the filming of “The Milkman,” Sept. 17, 1950. (AP Photo)

Actress Piper Laurie and Joseph M. Morgenstern, drama reporter and critic of the New York Herald-Tribune, pose as she visits him at work in New York, Dec. 28, 1961, shortly after her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Jacobs, announced the engagement. A private wedding is planned at the home of the bride’s sister in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/John Lent)

Actress Piper Laurie hugs her husband-to-be, Joseph M. Morgenstern, at his desk at the Herald-Tribune in New York, shortly after her parents announced their engagement, Dec. 28, 1961. He is a drama reporter and critic. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Jacobs, said they plan a private wedding in Long Beach, Calif. (AP Photo/John Lent)

Actress Piper Laurie and Joseph Morgenstern, drama writer for the New York Herald-Tribune, pick up a marriage license at the county clerk’s office in Los Angeles, Jan. 19, 1962. They’ll be wed on January 21, her 30th birthday in Long Beach. Their romance began when Morgenstern was assigned to interview her. (AP Photo/Harold Filan)

Actress Piper Laurie poses with Emmy she accepted for Roddy McDowall for his TV role in Equitable’s American Heritage, “Not Without Honor,” May 16, 1961 in New York. (AP Photo/Jack Kanthal)

Pretty Piper Laurie, auburn-haired starlet, toasts Donald O’Connor, July 22, 1950, who plays the lead in “The Milkman,” with some of the merchandise he is supposed to deliver in the film, now in production in Hollywood. (AP Photo)

Accordionist Dick Contino, returned from Army service in Korea, at a Hollywood night club in Los Angeles, Feb. 7, 1954 with actress Piper Laurie. Both said the date meant nothing more than friendship and they were not romantically serious. It was Contino’s first date since his Army discharge after 20 months service. (AP Photo)

Actress Piper Laurie is shown, 1987. (AP Photo)

Film actor Rock Hudson has a chat with lovely Piper Laurie in his dressing room, between scenes on the sound stage in Hollywood, April 13, 1953, where they are starring in “The Golden Blade.” (AP Photo/Ellis R. Bosworth)

Movie Actress Piper Laurie, left, wears a donkey head beauty spot on her cheek as she chats with Gov. Adlai Stevenson of Illinois, Democratic presidential nominee in Portland, Sept. 8, 1952. She was here for the city’s fall opening. Stevenson was here to open his campaign for West Coast votes at Portland. (AP Photo)

Piper Laurie, nominated in the supporting actress category for her role in “Children of a Lesser God,” arrives at the 59th Annual Academy Awards at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, March 30, 1987. (AP Photo/Lennox McLendon)

BEVERLY HILLS, CA – NOVEMBER 20: Piper Laurie at Fox Searchlight Pictures’ “Hitchcock” Los Angeles Premiere held at AMPAS Samuel Goldwyn Theater on November 20, 2012 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision/AP Images)

EXCLUSIVE – Piper Laurie and Eddie Redmayne seen at Focus Features ‘The Danish Girl’ Brunch hosted by Anne Hathaway and Dustin Lance Black on Sunday, December 20, 2015, in Beverly Hills, CA. (Photo by Eric Charbonneau/Invision for Focus Features/AP Images)

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Many audiences know her best from “Carrie,” however. Her chilling portrayal of Margaret White, the fanatic and frighteningly overprotective mother of the shy high school student played by Sissy Spacek, gave a distinctive depth to Brian De Palma’s film of Stephen King’s novel.

Laurie was nominated for three Oscars during her career, and received Emmy nominations for “Twin Peaks” in 1990 and 1991.

Her last credit was a role as the grandmother of an FBI informant-turned drug dealer in 2018’s “White Boy Rick,” which starred Matthew McConaughey.

Orange County Register

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Piper Laurie, cruel mom in ‘Carrie,’ dies at age 91

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