On October 14, 2023, the world lost Piper Laurie, who passed away at the age of 91 due to natural causes. The veteran performer began her screen acting career in the early 1950s and went on to earn three Academy Award nominations — one of which was for a performance that saw the beginning of her reputation as a top-notch Scream Queen, which she honored by starring in even more great horror movies over the years.
We cover those achievements and more as we pay tribute to the actor by presenting our picks for the best Piper Laurie movies and TV shows below.
The Hustler (1961)
A talented pool shark (Paul Newman) finds his self-destructive tendencies get the best of him when he takes on a seasoned billiards player (Jackie Gleason).
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Piper Laurie earned her first Academy Award nomination (in the Best Actress in a Leading Role category) for her performance as “Fast” Eddie Felson’s love interest, Sarah Packard, in The Hustler — director Robert Rossen’s acclaimed adaptation of Walter Tevis’ 1959 novel which eventually got a sequel in 1986 in the form of Martin Scorsese’s The Color of Money.
Stream The Hustler on IndieFlix.
Rent or buy The Hustler on Amazon.
Carrie (1976)
As her more popular, vindictive classmates plan to pull a cruel prank on her during the senior prom, a shy, sheltered high school student (Sissy Spacek) discovers that she has telekinetic powers.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Both Spacek and Piper Laurie earned Academy Award nominations for their performances in Brian de Palma’s adaptation of Stephen King’s first novel, Carrie — Spacek for playing the empathetic titular role and Laurie for shocking us as one of the scariest female horror movie villains: Carrie’s religious fanatic mother, Margaret White.
Stream Carrie on Max.
Rent or buy Carrie on Amazon.
Return To Oz (1985)
Convinced that her adventures in a far away, magical land were real, a young girl (Fairuza Balk) manages to escape cruel psychological treatment and is called back to Oz for another fantastical journey.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: What could be considered one of Piper Laurie’s horror titles, considering it contains scary scenes, despite being a kids movie, is Return to Oz — a sequel to the 1939 classic fantasy film and one of the weirdest movies on Disney+ in which the actor stars as Dorothy’s Aunt Em.
Stream Return To Oz on Disney+.
Rent or buy Return To Oz on Amazon.
Children Of A Lesser God (1986)
After starting a job at a school for the non-hearing, a speech teacher (Academy Award winner William Hurt) falls in loves with one of its former students (Marlee Matlin, in a famous example of deaf actors portraying deaf characters that earned her an Oscar win), who now works there as a custodian.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Piper Laurie received her third Academy Award nomination for starring as the mother of Matlin’s character, Sarah Norman, in Children of a Lesser God — director Randa Haines’ adaptation of Mark Medoff’s romantic stage play.
Stream Children Of A Lesser God on Showtime.
Rent or buy Children Of A Lesser God on Amazon.
Appointment With Death (1988)
A renowned Belgian private investigator (Peter Ustinov) is tasked with figuring out who among his many suspects is responsible for the murder of a domineering former prison warden (Piper Laurie), who was found dead near the Red Sea at an archaeological dig.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Laurie had the honor of playing the victim at the center of an Agatha Christie novel adaptation — namely director Michael Winner’s Appointment with Death, which features an acclaimed supporting cast including Lauren Bacall, Carrie Fisher, David Soul, and more.
Stream Appointment With Death on Tubi.
Twin Peaks (1989-1991)
An FBI agent (Kyle MacLachlan) with unconventional methods of investigation is tasked with solving the murder of a teenage girl in a small town plagued by dark secret hidden beneath its seemingly quaint exterior.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie TV shows: In addition to winning for the 1986 TV movie Promise, Piper Laurie also received multi Emmy nominations during her career — two of which were for her role in creator David Lynch’s Twin Peaks cast as Catherine Martell.
Stream Twin Peaks on Paramount+.
Buy Twin Peaks on Amazon.
The Faculty (1998)
A mismatched group of high school students are forced to band together when the teachers at their high school start acting wildly out of character.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: One of Piper Laurie’s more recent and noteworthy horror movies is director Robert Rodriguez and writer Kevin Williamson’s Body Snatchers-esque teen thriller, The Faculty — an epic kids vs. grown-ups battle in which she plays one of the many teachers possessed by aliens.
Stream The Faculty on Paramount+.
Stream The Faculty on Peacock.
The Dead Girl (2006)
The lives of seemingly unrelated individuals begin to intersect amid the investigation of a young woman (Brittany Murphy) found dead years after she was reported missing.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Yet another whodunnit on Piper Laurie’s resume is writer and director Karen Moncrieff’s intense drama The Dead Girl, which also boasts yet another portrayal of hers as an abusive mother to a central character — in this case the woman who found the titular murder victim on her property, played by Toni Collette.
Stream The Dead Girl on Starz.
Hesher (2010)
A teenager (Devin Brochu) grieving his mother’s death crosses paths with a homeless metalhead (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who makes a destructive impact on his already dysfunctional family when he moves into their home.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Piper Laurie, thankfully, plays a more kindly motherly figure in co-writer and director Spencer Susser’s dramedy, Hesher — also one of Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s best movies — but, more accurately, she plays the homely, supporting grandmother of the fragile family at its center.
Stream Hesher on Starz.
Rent or buy Hesher on Amazon.
White Boy Rick (2018)
A teenager (Richie Merritt) is enlisted by the FBI to become an FBI informant in 1980s Detroit.
Why it is one of the best Piper Laurie movies: Another one of Piper Laurie’s more notable and recent performances as a grandmother to a central character appears in White Boy Rick — director Yann Demange’s dramatization of the tragic true story of Rick Wershe Jr.
Stream White Boy Rick on Starz.
Rent or buy White Boy Rick on Amazon.
Piper Laurie leaves behind a treasured legacy on the big and small screen that you can relive by streaming the acclaimed titles above.
