- Born
- Died
- Birth nameRosetta Jacobs
- Nickname
- Rosie
- Height5′ 4½″ (1.64 m)
- Piper Laurie was 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. She had an elder sister. Her family was of Russian Jewish and Polish Jewish descent.
Young Rosetta 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 and was renamed Piper Laurie. She made more than twenty films, appearing 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 and anti-Vietnam War movements, feeling acting was less important. When she accepted work again she was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for '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 was nominated a total of twelve times for the 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 an Emmy for her performance in '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 'The Grass Harp'.
In 2010, she played an elderly grandma who learns to smoke a bong in the feature film 'Hesher', with Joseph Gordon Levitt and Natalie Portman. Most recently she 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 Madame Armfeldt.
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 Wingfield, with Maureen Stapleton (only 7 years older) as her mother, Amanda, at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre.
Off-Broadway, she appeared in Molly Kazan's 'Rosemary and the Alligators' and in 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.
Laurie was divorced from Wall Street Journal's movie critic, Pulitzer Prize-winner Joe Morgenstern. They had a daughter. 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.- IMDb Mini Biography By: MRO
- SpouseJoe Morgenstern(January 21, 1962 - November 24, 1982) (divorced, 1 child)
- ChildrenAnne Grace Morgenstern
- ParentsAlfred JacobsCharlotte Sadie (Alperin) Jacobs
- Frequently plays young ladies who were either rescued by men or who have fallen in love with men
- Red hair and brown eyes
- Seductive deep voice
- Southern accent
- 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.
- In her 2011 autobiography, "Learning to Live Out Loud: A Memoir", she revealed that she lost her virginity to Ronald Reagan during the time they were filming Louisa (1950) together. Reagan was nearly 40, while Laurie was still in her teens; in the movie, Reagan plays her father.
- Starred alongside Sissy Spacek in three movies: Carrie (1976) (she played her mother), The Grass Harp (1995) (she played her sister!), and the TV movie Midwives (2001).
- Has daughter Anne Grace Morgenstern (b. January 9, 1971) with ex-husband Joe Morgenstern.
- Laurie did not appear in another feature film until she accepted the role of religious fanatic Margaret White in the horror film Carrie (1976). She received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance; the commercial success of the film, and recognition for her performance, relaunched her career. Her co-star Sissy Spacek praised her acting skill: "She is a remarkable actress. She never does what you expect her to do-she always surprises you with her approach to a scene.".
- 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!'
- If I had stayed in Hollywood, I would have killed myself. Or someone would have done it for me.
- Carrie (1976) - $10,000
- Days of Wine and Roses (1958) - $10 .000
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