PIPER LAURIE BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Piper Laurie was born on January 22nd, 1932 in Detroit Michigan with the birth name Rosetta Jacobs. Her father was a Polish immigrant and her mother was of Russian-American descent. At the age of six her family relocated to Los Angeles, California. She was a very shy little girl, so her parents sent her to elocution classes to try and bring a personality out of her 'shell'. She also studied Hebrew school and took acting lessons.
At the age of seventeen, Universal Pictures signed her to her first contract and were also responsible for giving her the screen name, Piper Laurie. Her early career began with roles on such films as, "Louisa" (1950) starring alongside Ronald Reagan, Spring Byington, Ruth Hussey, Charles Coburn, Edmund Gwenn, Scotty Beckett, Martin Milner and Connie Gilchrist, "Francis Goes to the Races" (1951) also starring Donald O'Connor, Cecil Kellaway, Jesse White and Vaughn Taylor, "Son of Ali Baba" (1952) starring Tony Curtis, Susan Cabot, William Reynolds, Hugh O'Brian, Morris Ankrum, Gerald Mohr and Victor Jory and "Ain't Misbehavin'" (1955) also starring Rory Calhoun, Jack Carson, Mamie Van Doren, Reginald Gardner and Barbara Britton. Even though she was being cast in a number of films, Laurie was highly disappointed with the substantial quality of the roles being offered to her that she called her agent and left Los Angeles.
Laurie moved to New York City to study acting and also found work on live television shows such as, "Twelfth Night" (1957), "The Days of Wine and Roses" (1958) starring with Cliff Robertson, "Winterset" (1959) and was also cast in the film, "The Hustler" (1961) starring Paul Newman, Jackie Gleason, Murray Hamilton, Myron McCormick and George C. Scott for which she earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Actress.
Piper Laurie soon married Joe Morgendtern in 1962 and moved with her husband to Woodstock, New York where she focused on her family life and put her career to the side. She had one daughter, Anne Grace and put her duty as a mother first. She did however, accept a role in the film, "Carrie" (1976) for which she then received her second Academy Award nomination for Best actress and not long afterwards her and her husband divorced and she decided to move back to Los Angeles and jump right back into the film industry in 1982.
Earning her third Academy Award nomination for her role in, "Children of a Lesser God" (1986) starring with Marlee Matlin, William Hurt and Philip Bosco, portraying the character Mrs. Norman and then won an Emmy with her role in, "Promise" (1986) co-starring James Garner and James Woods. Laurie also made a number of television appearances on such shows as, "Murder, She Wrote" (1984), "Matlock" (1986), "Beauty and the Beast" (1987), "ER" (1994), "Diagnosis Murder" (1993) and "Frasier" (1993).
She currently resides in Los Angeles, California but is remains close with her daughter and now a grandchild and therefore visits New York frequently.
Filmography
2011 Art's Demise
2010 Hesher
2009 Another Harvest Moon
2009 Saving Grace B. Jones
2009 Bad Blood... the Hunger
2007 Hounddog
2006 The Dead Girl
2006 Bad Blood
2005 Cold Case
2004 Dead Like Me
2004 Eulogy
2002 State of Grace
2001 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
2001 The Last Brickmaker in America
2001 Midwives
2000 Possessed
2000 Will & Grace
1999 The Mao Game
1999 Inherit the Wind
1994-1999 Frasier
1999 Brother's Keeper
1999 Palmer's Pick Up
1999 Partners
1998 The Faculty
1997 A Christmas Memory
1997 Alone
1997 Touched by an Angel
1997 Intensity
1997 St. Patrick's Day
1996 Diagnosis Murder
1995-1996 ER
1996 In the Blink of an Eye
1996 The Road to Galveston
1995 The Crossing Guard
1995 The Grass Harp
1995 Fighting for My Daughter
1994 Shadows of Desire
1994 Traps
1993 Wrestling Ernest Hemingway
1993 Love, Lies & Lullabies
1993 Trauma
1992 Rich in Love
1992 Storyville
1991 Other People's Money
1990-1991 Twin Peaks
1990 Rising Son
1989 Dream a Little Dream
1989 Beauty and the Beast
1989 Mother, Mother
1988 Go Toward the Light
1988 Tiger Warsaw
1988 Appointment with Death
1987 Distortions
1959-1986 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1986 Matlock
1986 Children of a Lesser God
1985 The Twilight Zone
1985 Toughlove
1985 Love, Mary
1985 Tender Is the Night
1985 Return to Oz
1985 Hotel
1985 Murder, She Wrote
1983 St. Elsewhere
1983 The Thorn Birds
1982 Mae West
1981 The Bunker
1981 Macbeth
1980 Skag
1979 Tim
1978 Rainbow
1978 The Boss' Son
1977 In the Matter of Karen Ann Quinlan
1977 Ruby
1976 Carrie
1976 The Woman Rebel
1964 Breaking Point
1964 The Eleventh Hour
1963 Ben Casey
1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1963 Naked City
1960-1963 The United States Steel Hour
1956-1961 G.E. True Theater
1961 The Hustler
1960 Play of the Week
1959 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1957-1958 Playhouse 90
1957 The Seven Lively Arts
1957 Studio One in Hollywood
1957 Until They Sail
1957 Kelly and Me
1956 Front Row Center
1956 The Road That Led Afar
1956 The Ninth Day
1955 Robert Montgomery Presents
1955 Ain't Misbehavin'
1955 The Best of Broadway
1955 Smoke Signal
1954 Dawn at Socorro
1954 Johnny Dark
1954 Dangerous Mission
1953 The Golden Blade
1953 The Mississippi Gambler
1952 Son of Ali Baba
1952 Has Anybody Seen My Gal
1952 No Room for the Groom
1951 The Prince Who Was a Thief
1951 Francis Goes to the Races
1950 The Milkman
1950 Louisa
