Piper Laurie Movies

Want to know the best Piper Laurie movies?  How about the worst Piper Laurie movies?  Curious about Piper Laurie box office grosses or which Piper Laurie movie picked up the most Oscar® nominations? Need to know which Piper Laurie movie got the best reviews from critics and audiences? Well, you have come to the right place….because we have all of that information.

Piper Laurie (1932-2023) was a three-time Oscar® nominated American actress.  Laurie  known for her roles in the films The Hustler (1961), Carrie (1976), and Children of a Lesser God (1986), all of which brought her Academy Award® nominations.  Her IMDb page shows over 184 acting credits from 1955 to 2018.  This page will rank Piper Laurie movies from Best to Worst in six different sortable columns of information.  To do well in our overall rankings a movie has to do well at the box office, get good reviews by critics, be liked by audiences, and get some award recognition.

The Hustler (1961)

Piper Laurie Movies Ranked In Chronological Order With Ultimate Movie Rankings Score (1 to 5 UMR Tickets) *Best combo of box office, reviews and awards.

Carrie (1976)

Piper Laurie Movies Can Be Ranked 6 Ways In This Table

The really cool thing about this table is that it is “user-sortable”. Rank the movies any way you want.

  • Sort Piper Laurie movies by her co-stars
  • Sort Piper Laurie movies by adjusted domestic box office grosses using current movie ticket cost (in millions)
  • Sort Piper Laurie movies by yearly domestic box office rank
  • Sort Piper Laurie movies by how they were received by critics and audiences.  60% rating or higher should indicate a good movie.
  • Sort by how many Oscar® nominations and how many Oscar® wins each Piper Laurie movie received.
  • Sort Piper Laurie movies by Ultimate Movie Rankings (UMR) Score.  UMR puts box office, reviews and awards into a mathematical equation and gives each movie a score.

Children of a Lesser God (1986)

Check out Piper Laurie’s career compared to current and classic actors.  Most 100 Million Dollar Movies of All-Time.

16 thoughts on “Piper Laurie Movies

  1. Bonjour à tous,
    I hope everybody is fine.
    Piper Laurie, I have to confess I forgot her totally, so long time…
    But when I read her name on your first page, I knew there was a film with Paul Newman,
    It came fast, The Hustler but that’s all, I am sorry for that because
    she was great in this part, but I did not remembered her in Carrie.
    The movie theaters are closed in France and in a lot of countries in the world for the second time, I think it is terrible…
    Take care of you
    Pierre

    1. Hey Pierre…..first of all glad to hear from you and glad you are surviving the pandemic. Sorry that the theaters have closed again…..WoC and I have not been to the theater since March….I miss going. Thanks for the thoughts on Piper Laurie. She was excellent in The Hustler….but I think the fact that she stayed away from movies after that performance for over 10 years is why many do not know her very well. Good stuff…..and stay safe.

  2. I’ll always remember Piper Laurie as Sissy Spacek’s crazed mother in the Stephen King horror ‘Carrie’, both actresses were Oscar nominated for that film.

    I’ve seen 5 of the 45 films on the chart – The Hustler, Other People’s Money, Return to Oz, The Faculty and Carrie (my favorite of the 5, saw it a couple of times at the cinema decades ago).

    She was paired with Tony Curtis in a bunch of b-movies back in the 1950s including ‘Son of Ali Baba’ the film in which Curtis supposedly utters the classic line “Yonda lies the castle of my fodder”.

    Nice work Bruce. Vote Up!

    1. Hey Steve….thanks for the thoughts on Piper Laurie. She was excellent as the “crazed mother” in Carrie…..so much better than Julianne Moore in the far inferior remake…and I like Moore a lot. Tally count: Cogerson 7, Steve 5 and you 4. I have seen three of the five you have seen. The Faculty is a pretty entertaining movie…so I am right there with you. I have not seen the whole movie…but I have seen Curtis say “Yonda lies the castle of my fodder”….a classic reading..lol. Apparently it is somewhere in here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DA-EXTC1cQ

  3. The first time I saw Piper Laurie was in Carrie, back in the days of maybe 15 films a year.

    Piper is # 917 on the 2020 Oracle of Bacon list. Here are the other actors on the list she appeared with.

    11 ERNEST BORGNINE Another Harvest Moon (2009)
    18 JOHN GIELGUD Appointment with Death (1988)
    31 ROBERT DUVALL Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    39 RODDY MCDOWELL The Grass Harp (1995)
    57 HARRY DEAN STANTON Dream a Little Dream (1989)
    77 JOHN SAVAGE The Crossing Guard (1995)
    83 JACK NICHOLSON The Crossing Guard (1995)
    84 BRUCE DERN WHITE BOY RICK (2018)
    93 PETER USTINOV Appointment with Death (1988)
    99 RIP TORN Eulogy (2004)
    106 SHIRLEY MACLAINE Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    114 JASON ROBARDS Dream a Little Dream (1989)
    114 JASON ROBARDS Storyville (1992)
    117 RICHARD HARRIS Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    132 WILLIAM HURT Children of a Lesser God (1986)
    137 LAUREN BACALL Appointment with Death (1988)
    151 ANJELICA HUSTON The Crossing Guard (1995)
    171 MEL GIBSON Tim (1979)
    194 CHARLES DURNING The Grass Harp (1995)
    207 JEFF COREY The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
    209 ROSANNA ARQUETTE Palmer’s Pick Up (1999)
    211 DANNY DEVITO Other People’s Money (1991)
    224 PAUL NEWMAN The Hustler (1961)
    224 PAUL NEWMAN Until They Sail (1957)
    253 RANCE HOWARD Eulogy (2004)
    290 GREGORY PECK Other People’s Money (1991)
    299 JOE DON BAKER The Grass Harp (1995)
    310 JACK LEMMON The Grass Harp (1995)
    311 SCOTT WILSON Saving Grace B. Jones (2009)
    311 SCOTT WILSON The Grass Harp (1995)
    326 ALBERT FINNEY Rich in Love (1993)
    335 MARY STEENBURGEN The Dead Girl (2006)
    335 MARY STEENBURGEN The Grass Harp (1995)
    338 BRUCE DAVISON The Dead Girl (2006)
    342 JENNIFER JASON LEIGH WHITE BOY RICK (2018)
    375 JOHN TRAVOLTA Carrie (1976)
    418 JOSH BROLIN The Dead Girl (2006)
    434 JOSH HARTNETT THE FACULTY (1998)
    440 SALMA HAYEK The Faculty (1998)
    457 ELIJAH WOOD The Faculty (1998)
    462 STUART WHITMAN Ruby (1977)
    473 TONY CURTIS Johnny Dark (1954)
    473 TONY CURTIS No Room for the Groom (1952)
    473 TONY CURTIS Son of Ali Baba (1952)
    473 TONY CURTIS The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951)
    499 CHRISTOPHER MCDONALD The Faculty (1998)
    504 ROBERT PATRICK The Faculty (1998)
    521 NATALIE PORTMAN Hesher (2010)
    522 MICHAEL PARKS Storyville (1992)
    529 MARCIA GAY HARDEN The Dead Girl (2006)
    531 TONI COLLETTE THE DEAD GIRL (2006)
    537 WOODY STRODE Storyville (1992)
    538 HANK AZARIA EULOGY (2004)
    544 OLIVIA HUSSEY (I) DISTORTIONS (1987)
    549 VINCENT PRICE Dangerous Mission (1954)
    559 RICHARD SCHIFF Another Harvest Moon (2010)
    579 GEORGE C. SCOTT The Hustler (1961)
    590 ETHAN HAWKE Rich in Love (1993)
    606 TONY PLANA The Boss’ Son (1978)
    636 MICHAEL BIEHN Saving Grace B. Jones (2009)
    645 ROSE BYRNE THE DEAD GIRL (2006)
    654 MICHAEL CONSTANTINE The Hustler (1961)
    659 PATRICK SWAYZE Tiger Warsaw (1988)
    665 JAMES SPADER STORYVILLE (1992)
    692 JAMES FRANCO The Dead Girl (2006)
    701 KYLE MACLACHLAN Rich in Love (1993)
    719 WALTER MATTHAU The Grass Harp (1995)
    725 ASIA ARGENTO TRAUMA (1993)
    729 MATT CLARK Return to Oz (1985)
    734 MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY WHITE BOY RICK (2018)
    760 LEE VAN CLEEF Dawn at Socorro (1954)
    786 CARRIE FISHER Appointment with Death (1988)
    794 ALEX ROCCO Dream a Little Dream (1989)
    823 SISSY SPACEK Carrie (1976)
    823 SISSY SPACEK The Grass Harp (1995)
    830 FAMKE JANSSEN Eulogy (2004)
    830 FAMKE JANSSEN The Faculty (1998)
    836 JAMES RUSSO Trauma (1993)
    865 PHILIP BOSCO Children of a Lesser God (1986)
    870 RENE AUBERJONOIS Eulogy (2004)
    897 PATRICK MACNEE Until They Sail (1957)
    900 DAVID MORSE HOUNDDOG (2007)
    900 DAVID MORSE THE CROSSING GUARD (1995)
    909 NICOL WILLIAMSON Return to Oz (1985)
    910 EDDIE MARSAN WHITE BOY RICK (2018)
    954 DORIS ROBERTS THE GRASS HARP (1995)
    984 JOSEPH GORDON LEVITT Hesher (2010)
    993 FREDERIC FORREST Trauma (1993)

    Piper appeared with 25 Oscar winners.

    ANJELICA HUSTON The Crossing Guard (1995)
    CHARLES COBURN Has Anybody Seen My Gal (1952)
    CHARLES COBURN Louisa (1950)
    EDMUND GWENN Louisa (1950)
    ERNEST BORGNINE Another Harvest Moon (2009)
    GEORGE C. SCOTT The Hustler (1961)
    GREGORY PECK Other People’s Money (1991)
    JACK LEMMON The Grass Harp (1995)
    JACK NICHOLSON The Crossing Guard (1995)
    JASON ROBARDS Dream a Little Dream (1989)
    JASON ROBARDS Storyville (1992)
    JOAN FONTAINE Until They Sail (1957)
    JOHN GIELGUD Appointment with Death (1988)
    MARCIA GAY HARDEN The Dead Girl (2006)
    MARY STEENBURGEN The Dead Girl (2006)
    MARY STEENBURGEN The Grass Harp (1995)
    MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY WHITE BOY RICK (2018)
    NATALIE PORTMAN Hesher (2010)
    OCTAVIA SPENCER THE GRASS HARP (1995)
    PAUL NEWMAN The Hustler (1961)
    PAUL NEWMAN Until They Sail (1957)
    PETER USTINOV Appointment with Death (1988)
    RITA MORENO The Boss’ Son (1978)
    ROBERT DUVALL Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    SANDRA BULLOCK Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    SHIRLEY MACLAINE Wrestling Ernest Hemingway (1993)
    SISSY SPACEK Carrie (1976)
    SISSY SPACEK The Grass Harp (1995)
    WALTER MATTHAU The Grass Harp (1995)
    WILLIAM HURT Children of a Lesser God (1986)

    1. Hey Dan…..as always….thanks for the thoughts and trivia lists. Wow….she has cracked the Top 1000….not too bad for someone that did not make any movies in her peak window….no movies from The Hustler to Carrie. I wonder if that is a record….longest gap in Oscar nominations with no other movies being made? I saw Carrie as well…but it took almost a decade for me to finally see it….I remember knowing that the kid (John Travolta) on Welcome Back Kotter had been in Carrie. Looking at the first list….good ole Tony Curtis gets the honors of being the most frequent Oracle co-star….I have not seen any of those movies. Looking at the second list….25 Oscar winning co-stars is on the low end…..but lots of legends among that 25. Good stuff as always.

      1. I never noticed that she was missing from films for 15 years. Looked her up and it says on the IMDB that she dropped out to devote her tome to the civil rights movement and the Vietnam war which she considered more important. She appeared on a few TV series in the 60’s after the Hustler. . Just saw her on a Matlock episode the other day. I liked the Tony Curtis swashbucklers she appeared in with him.

        1. Hey Dan…thanks for the information on why she was absent from the big screen….I had noticed the gap….but had not looked up the “why”. It is not too often when I am researching these pages that I go from 1961 to 1976 so quickly….so it really jumped out at me. Looks like she picked some great causes. I will have to check out her Tony Curtis movies. Good feedback.

  4. I have seen 4 Piper Laurie movies. None of them are favourites.

    They are:

    The Hustler
    Until They Sail
    Other People’s Money
    Appointment with Death

    1. Hey Flora…thanks for the thoughts on Piper Laurie…..tally counts: Cogerson 7, Steve 5 and you 4. Most of my Laurie movies seen are pretty current ones…..though I have seen The Hustler and Carrie. I have only seen one of the ones you have seen….The Hustler….which is far from being one of my Paul Newman favorites. Good stuff as always.

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