Where Are They Now: Piper Laurie AKA The Abusive Mom From 'Carrie'

March 9th, 2013 4:16pm EST

Remember the abusive mom that helped drive Carrie insane? She's played by Piper Laurie, who has been acting since the 1950s! This is what she looks like today - check out more photos and more interesting tidbits of trivia on the following pages.

Piper was born Rosetta Jacobs in Detroit Michigan, but her family moved to Los Angeles when she was 6. She attended Hebrew school and took elocution lessons to combat what her parents thought was crippling shyness.

Piper would become famous in entertainment columns when a Universal Studios publicity worker published photos of her eating flowers. A day after the photos were released three newspapers called in for exclusive interviews. To drive the story home, Piper ate flowers while giving the three interviews! She would later consider changing her name (again) to distance herself from the act.

Piper claims in her autobiography that she lost her virginity to Ronald Reagan, who was playing her father in the 1950 comedy Louisa. They dated for a short time before Ronald married Nancy Reagan in 1952.

Piper also says she had a one night stand with Mel Gibson during the filming of the 1979 movie Tim. Piper was married at the time and 25 years older than Mel.

Piper though she got her big break when she starred as Paul Newman's crippled girlfriend in The Hustler. Despite being nominated for an Academy Award, she would not get work again until 1976's Carrie.

Piper's pay for Carrie was only $10,000. The film was made on a shoestring budget of $1.8 million (in 1979, blockbusters were made for approximately $30 million). Carrie would go on to make almost $34 million at the box office and earn Piper her second Academy Award nomination.

After playing Sissy Spacek's mother in Carrie, Piper played her sister in the 1995 film The Grass Harp.

Piper has received numerous awards and nominations for her later TV work. She has appeared in Twin Peaks, The Thornbirds, and Frasier. She recently starred in various independent films, such as Hesher.

Photo Credits: PR Photos, WENN

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