Priscilla Pointer, Amy Irving’s Mother and ‘Carrie’ and ‘Dallas’ Actress, Dies at 100

Priscilla Pointer, who played the mother of her real-life daughter Amy Irving in “Carrie” and also appeared on “Dallas,” died Monday in Ridgefield, Conn. She was 100.

Pointer’s death was confirmed to Variety by her son, USC professor David K. Irving.

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Pointer played Irving’s mom in “Carrie” and appeared with her daughter in six other movies. She also portrayed other famous mothers throughout the ’70s and ’80s, including Diane Keaton’s in “Looking for Mr. Goodbar,” Kyle MacLachlan’s in “Blue Velvet” and Sean Penn’s in “The Falcon and the Snowman.” Additionally, she starred in the CBS soap opera “Dallas” as the mother of Victoria Principal’s character.

Over the years, Pointer appeared in “A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors,” “Twilight Zone: The Movie,” “ER,” “Judging Amy,” “St. Elsewhere,” “McCoy,” “McCloud” and “N.Y.P.D.” Pointer also appeared in three films directed by her son, David Irving, including the 1987 musical adaptation of “Rumpelstiltskin,” “Good-bye, Cruel World” and “C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D.”

Before acting in film and TV, Pointer got her start on the stage as a New York-born performer. She appeared in several Broadway shows, including the original tours of “A Streetcar Named Desire,” “The Caucasian Chalk Circle,” The Condemned of Altona,” “Yerma” and “The East Wind,” oftentimes under the direction of husband Jules Irving. She met Irving in Europe after an army production of “Brother Rat.”

With her husband, Pointer co-founded the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop with Herbert Blau and Beatrice Manley. The company was eventually taken over by the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York City.

Pointer is survived by her three children.

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