Piper Laurie, the celebrated actress known for her chilling portrayal of the overbearingly religious mother in “Carrie” and for playing Paul Newman’s down-in-the-dumps girlfriend in “The Hustler,” has died at 91, her manager said.<br />Laurie died early Saturday in Los Angeles, her manager, Marion Rosenberg, confirmed to CNN. No cause of death was provided.<br />Laurie will be remembered as “one of the finest actresses of her generation and a superb human being,” Rosenberg said.<br />Turner Classic Movies, which, like CNN, is part of Warner Brothers Discovery, called Laurie “one of the most celebrated and formidable actresses of the last half-century.” The network praised her “full-blooded performances as flawed, often ferocious women.”<br />Though she began as a teen starlet in the 1950s, Laurie took a prolonged hiatus from Hollywood after becoming disillusioned by the industry’s treatment of her as a young actress and the flatness of the female roles she was offered. When she reemerged more than a decade later, she quickly reestablished herself through striking embodiments of complex – and sometimes tormented – women.<br />Critics and colleagues took note: Laurie received Oscar nominations for her riveting performances in “The Hustler” (1961) and “Carrie” (1976). Her third nomination was for her portrayal of a remorseful mother in “Children of a Lesser God” (1986).<br />She was awarded a Golden Globe for her performance as a vengeful mill owner in television’s “Twin Peaks,” in addition to two Emmy nominations.<br />Born as Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit in 1932, she assumed the name Piper Laurie at the urging of a manager when she began professionally acting, she wrote in her memoir, “Learning to Live Out Loud.”
