

Priscilla Pointer, a stage-trained actress whose career blossomed in film and television alongside her real-life family, died Monday at the age of 100 in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Her son, USC professor David K. Irving, confirmed her death to Variety.
Pointer was perhaps best known for portraying mothers – on-screen and off. In Brian De Palma’s Carrie (1976), she played the mother of the doomed Sue Snell, portrayed by her real-life daughter Amy Irving. It was the first of several film collaborations between the two. Pointer and Irving would go on to appear together in six more movies, a testament to their enduring familial and artistic bond.
Shohei Ohtani gets rare comment from Donald Trump at the White House
Born in New York City on May 18, 1924, Pointer’s early career began on the stage. She was part of the original productions of classics like A Streetcar Named Desire, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, and Yerma, often under the direction of her husband, theater director Jules Irving. The couple’s partnership extended beyond the personal and into the professional: they co-founded the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop with Herbert Blau and Beatrice Manley, a bold experimental theater that helped shape the post-war American stage. The company’s influence would eventually carry over to the Vivian Beaumont Theater in New York, where Pointer’s classical training found a lasting home.
An amazing career
Transitioning to screen work in the 1970s, Pointer carved out a niche for herself in maternal roles that resonated with emotional depth and quiet strength. She portrayed Diane Keaton’s mother in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Kyle MacLachlan’s in David Lynch’s Blue Velvet (1986), and Sean Penn’s in The Falcon and the Snowman (1985).
Television audiences knew her as Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, the long-lost mother of Pamela Ewing (Victoria Principal) on the popular CBS soap Dallas, where she added nuance to a show known for its outsized drama. Pointer also guest-starred in an array of TV hits including St. Elsewhere, ER, Judging Amy, McCloud, and N.Y.P.D.. Horror fans will recognize her from A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors and Twilight Zone: The Movie.
Her professional legacy extended to her family. In addition to her many collaborations with Amy Irving, she appeared in several films directed by her son David Irving, including Good-bye, Cruel World (1983), the quirky horror sequel C.H.U.D. II: Bud the C.H.U.D. (1989), and the musical Rumpelstiltskin (1987).
A lifelong advocate for the arts, Pointer exemplified the continuity between stage and screen, classical and contemporary. In an industry often focused on youth and novelty, she built a career that spanned seven decades, grounded in substance and driven by family. She is survived by her three children.
This news was originally published on this post .
Be the first to leave a comment