The Oscar-nominated actor, who performed in acclaimed roles such as Carrie and at one point abandoned acting altogether in search of a 'more meaningful' life, has died aged 91.
Piper Laurie, the strong-willed, Oscar-nominated actor who performed in acclaimed roles despite at one point abandoning acting altogether in search of a "more meaningful" life, has died at her home in Los Angeles aged 91.
She went on to receive Academy Award nominations for three distinct films: The 1961 pool room drama The Hustler; the 1976 film version of Stephen King's horror classic Carrie, and the romantic drama Children of a Lesser God, in 1986. Fed up, she walked out on her $US2,000-a-week contract in 1955, vowing she would not work again unless she was offered a decent part.
She married film critic Joseph Morgenstern, welcomed a daughter, Ann Grace, and moved to a farmhouse in Woodstock, New York. Her only performances during that time came when she joined a dozen musicians and actors on a tour of college campuses to support senator George McGovern's 1972 US presidential bid.