Priscilla Pointer, perhaps best known to TV fans for her role on Dallas and a fan favorite for her appearances in a myriad of horror films, has died.
Videos by Suggest
Pointer passed away on Monday at an assisted living facility in Ridgefield, Connecticut, according to her son, writer and director David Irving, who shared the news with The Hollywood Reporter. She was just three weeks away from her 101st birthday.
Priscilla Pointer who played Pam's Mother Rebecca Wentworth on #Dallas has passed away at the age of 100 pic.twitter.com/rHwhs62MFl
— Victoria Principal Fans (@Principal_Fans) April 29, 2025
Horror fans often note her memorable role in Brian De Palma’s Carrie, where she portrayed the on-screen mother of her real-life daughter, Amy Irving. A highlight of the iconic Stephen King adaptation is seeing Pointer play off Piper Laurie in the film.
“These are Godless times, Mrs. Snell,” Laurie’s demented Margaret White snarls in a scene they share. “I’ll drink to that!” Pointer’s character shoots back, raising a glass.
It is with sadness to announce the passing of character actress Priscilla Pointer at the age of 100. Many will best remember her as Mrs. Snell from Carrie (1976) playing opposite real-life daughter Amy Irving. She will be missed.đź’— pic.twitter.com/Vg5XUGcduc
— amazine leslie (@mazietabby) April 29, 2025
Her other contributions to the horror genre also include roles in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors, Twilight Zone: The Movie, C.H.U.D. II: Bud the Chud, and Rumpelstiltskin, which was also directed by her son.
Per IMDb, Pointer had a long career portraying motherly roles, particularly during the 1970s and 1980s. She played Diane Keaton’s mother in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), Sean Penn’s mother in The Falcon and the Snowman (1985), and Kyle MacLachlan’s mother in Blue Velvet (1986).
Priscilla Pointer Also Had a Memorable TV Career
Meanwhile, on television, she appeared as Rebecca Barnes Wentworth, the mother of Victoria Principal’s character, on CBS’s Dallas in the early 1980s. She also made notable appearances on popular shows like The Rockford Files, Police Woman, Barnaby Jones, and held a recurring role as a judge on L.A. Law.
In the 1960s and ’70s, Pointer performed on Broadway with the Lincoln Center Repertory Theater, directed by her husband, Jules Irving, and Herbert Blau. The pair had previously co-founded the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop in 1952.
After Jules Irving died in 1979, Pointer married Robert Symonds, an actor and Irving’s producing partner, in 1981. Pointer and Symonds had a long history of collaborating on stage and in films like Micki + Maude and Inferno (1999). Symonds passed away in 2007.
Amy Irving Pays Tribute to Her Mother
Her daughter Amy Irving, Steven Spielberg’s first wife, earned an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Barbra Streisand’s Yentl (1983). She made her big-screen debut in Carrie (1976).
Irving shared a heartfelt tribute to her mother in the wake of her passing on Instagram.
“[Priscilla Pointer] died peacefully in her sleep at the age of 100, hopefully to run off with her 2 adoring husbands and her many dogs. She most definitely will be missed,” she wrote alongside a recent candid snapshot of her mother and a second throwback picture of her holding Amy as an infant.
Survivors also include her daughter, Katie Irving, a singer who contributed two songs to Carrie; Amy’s husband, documentary filmmaker Kenneth Bowser; and eight grandchildren.