Ellen Burstyn
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Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she has received numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". She has also received a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. Burstyn made her acting debut on Broadway in Fair Game in 1957 before winning the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for Same Time, Next Year (1975). She earned the Academy Award for Best Actress as the widow Alice Hyatt in Martin Scorsese's romantic drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974). Her other Oscar-nominated roles were in The Last Picture Show (1971), The Exorcist (1973), Same Time, Next Year (1978), Resurrection (1980), and Requiem for a Dream (2000). Her other notable films include Harry and Tonto (1974), How to Make an American Quilt (1995), Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), W. (2008), Interstellar (2014), The Age of Adaline (2015), and Pieces of a Woman (2020). She won Primetime Emmy Awards for her guest role in the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2009) and supporting role in the USA Network political miniseries Political Animals (2013). Her other Emmy-nominated roles include Pack of Lies (1988), Mrs. Harris (2005), Big Love (2008), Draft Day, Flowers in the Attic (both 2014), and House of Cards (2016). Since 2000, she has been co-president of the Actors Studio, a drama school in New York City. In 2013, she was inducted into the American Theatre Hall of Fame for her work onstage.
Known for
Credits
Interstellar (2014)
as Murph (older)
The Exorcist (1973)
as Chris MacNeil
The Age of Adaline (2015)
as Flemming
The Wicker Man (2006)
as Sister Summersisle
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
as Chris MacNeil
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
as Sara Goldfarb
The Fountain (2006)
as Dr. Lillian Guzetti
Flowers in the Attic (2014)
as Grandmother
The Tale (2018)
as Nettie
Dying Young (1991)
as Mrs. O'Neil
The Yards (2000)
as Val Handler
Petals on the Wind (2014)
as Olivia Foxworth
Draft Day (2014)
as Barb Weaver
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
as Emily
Playing by Heart (1998)
as Mildred
The Last Picture Show (1971)
as Lois Farrow
Pieces of a Woman (2020)
as Elizabeth Weiss
W. (2008)
as Barbara Bush
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
as Alice Hyatt
How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
as Hy Dodd
Love, Marilyn (2013)
as Self
Breakdown: 1975 (2025)
as Self
Harry and Tonto (1974)
as Shirley Mallard
Lucy in the Sky (2019)
as Nana Holbrook
Wiener-Dog (2016)
as Nana
Lovely, Still (2009)
as Mary
Red Dragon (2002)
as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)
The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
as Mrs. Haberman
Queen Bees (2021)
as Helen Wilson
Mother, Couch (2024)
as Mother
Providence (1977)
as Sonia Langham
Hanna's War (1988)
as Katalin
Wish You Well (2013)
as Louisa Mae Cardinal
And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)
as Self - Interviewee
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)
as Mrs. Stocks (voice)
Mrs. Harris (2006)
as Former Tarnower Steady
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
as Vivi
The Calling (2014)
as Emily Micallef
Our Fathers (2005)
as Mary Ryan
The Stone Angel (2007)
as Hagar
All I Wish (2018)
as Celia Berges
Custody (2016)
as Beatrice Fisher
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
as Doris
Deceiver (1997)
as Mook
Roommates (1995)
as Judith
Main Street (2010)
as Georgiana Carr
According to Greta (2009)
as Katherine
Unity (2015)
as Narrator (voice)
Into Thin Air (1985)
as Joan Walker
Night of 100 Stars (1982)
as Self
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
as Self
Another Happy Day (2011)
as Doris Baker
30 Days (2006)
as Maura
When You Remember Me (1990)
as Nurse Cooder
Three Months (2022)
as Valerie
Flash (1997)
as Laura Strong
Picture This (1991)
as Self
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
as Sally
About Scout (2015)
as Gram
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self
Place to Be (—)
as Brooke
Getting Out (1994)
as Arlie's Mother
The Mighty Macs (2011)
as Mother St. John
For Those Who Think Young (1964)
as Dr. Pauline Swenson
Getting Gotti (1994)
as Jo Giacalone
This Ordinary Thing (2025)
as Self (voice)
The House of Tomorrow (2019)
as Josephine Prendergast
The Spitfire Grill (1996)
as Hannah Ferguson
Nostalgia (2018)
as Helen Greer
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008)
as Miss Addie
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
as Self
The Velveteen Rabbit (2009)
as Swan (voice)
Goodbye Charlie (1964)
as Franny Salzman
American Woman (2019)
as Miss Dolly
Grand Isle (1991)
as Mademoiselle Reisz
Pack of Lies (1987)
as Barbara Jackson
Earth and the American Dream (1992)
as Reader (voice)
Pit Stop (1969)
as Ellen McCleod
Act of Vengeance (1986)
as Margaret Yablonski
Surviving (1985)
as Tina Brogan
Friedkin Uncut (2018)
as Self
Resurrection (1980)
as Edna
Hello Actors Studio (1988)
as Self
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)
as Ruby
River of Fundament (2014)
as Hathfertiti
The Ambassador (1985)
as Alex Hacker
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2012)
as Nanette
Two Men in Town (2014)
as Mère Garnett
PoliWood (2009)
as Self
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (1998)
as Self - Chris MacNeil
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (1989)
as Self
A Deadly Vision (1997)
as Yvette Watson
The Patron Saint of Liars (1998)
as June Clatterbuck
Brush with Fate (2003)
as Rika
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute (1974)
as Self (archive footage)
The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel (2004)
as Tommie
Walking Across Egypt (1999)
as Mattie Rigsbee
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story (1993)
as Joan Delvecchio
Thursday's Game (1974)
as Lynne Evers
Watch on the Rhine (2021)
as Fanny
Alex in Wonderland (1970)
as Beth Morrison
Be Pretty and Shut Up! (1981)
as Self
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
as Kate MacKenzie
I Love Liberty (1982)
as Self
Mermaid (2000)
as Trish
Tropic of Cancer (1970)
as Mona (uncredited)
Follow The River (1995)
as Gretel
The Cemetery Club (1993)
as Esther Moskowitz
Night Ride Home (1999)
as Maggie
Marilyn in Manhattan (1998)
as Self
The Elephant King (2006)
as Diana Hunt
The Last Picture Show: A Look Back (1999)
as Self
Bathing Flo (—)
Actor
The Making of Requiem for a Dream (2001)
as Self
People vs. Jean Harris (1981)
as Jean Harris
Within These Walls (2001)
as Joan Thomas
Delphine and Carole (2020)
as Self (archive footage)
Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes (2021)
as Herself
Second Chances: The Making of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (2004)
as Self
Silence of the North (1981)
as Olive Frederickson
Something in Common (1986)
as Lynn Hollander
The Christmas Tree (1958)
as Elizabeth
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance (2010)
as Self
Timepiece (1996)
as Maud Gannon
My Brother's Keeper (1995)
as Helen
Duse, the Greatest (2025)
Actor
You Can Thank Me Later (1998)
as Shirley Cooperberg
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story (1992)
as Wilma
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
as Self
Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love (1991)
as Lillian "Lil" Lambert
Trick of the Eye (1994)
as Frances Griffin
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow (2006)
as Self
Mitch Albom's For One More Day (2007)
as Pauline "Posey" Benetto
A Dream of Passion (1978)
as Brenda Collins
The Color of Evening (1990)
as Kate O'Rielly
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies (2019)
as Self
Easy Out? (1948)
as Mary
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist (2024)
as Self
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (2010)
as Self
E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump (2024)
as E. Jean Carroll
When It Was a Game 2 (1992)
as Passage Narrator (voice)
Ricochet (1961)
as Rose Maxon
Reflections of a Philosopher King (2010)
as Self
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime (2017)
as Self
Roots of Roe (1993)
as Narrator (voice)
Memories, Dreams & Addictions (2001)
as Self