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 Exorcist: Believer (2023)
as Chris MacNeil
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
as Sara Goldfarb
The Wicker Man (2006)
as Sister Summersisle
The Last Picture Show (1971)
as Lois Farrow
Draft Day (2014)
as Barb Weaver
Custody (2016)
as Beatrice Fisher
The Fountain (2006)
as Dr. Lillian Guzetti
Pieces of a Woman (2020)
as Elizabeth Weiss
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
as Emily
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
as Doris
Main Street (2010)
as Georgiana Carr
Picture This (1991)
as Self
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
as Alice Hyatt
Flesh Impact (2026)
as Marilyn Monroe
30 Days (2006)
as Maura
Flowers in the Attic (2014)
as Grandmother
The Yards (2000)
as Val Handler
Dying Young (1991)
as Mrs. O'Neil
W. (2008)
as Barbara Bush
Second Chances: The Making of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (2004)
as Self
Petals on the Wind (2014)
as Olivia Foxworth
Roommates (1995)
as Judith
The Spitfire Grill (1996)
as Hannah Ferguson
How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
as Hy Dodd
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
as Vivi
Playing by Heart (1998)
as Mildred
The Tale (2018)
as Nettie
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008)
as Miss Addie
The House of Tomorrow (2019)
as Josephine Prendergast
Deceiver (1997)
as Mook
Flash (1997)
as Laura Strong
Providence (1977)
as Sonia Langham
Mother, Couch (2024)
as Mother
Another Happy Day (2011)
as Doris Baker
Lucy in the Sky (2019)
as Nana Holbrook
Hello Actors Studio (1988)
as Self
Lovely, Still (2009)
as Mary
The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
as Mrs. Haberman
Wish You Well (2013)
as Louisa Mae Cardinal
Thursday's Game (1974)
as Lynne Evers
Harry and Tonto (1974)
as Shirley
Wiener-Dog (2016)
as Nana
Red Dragon (2002)
as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)
The Stone Angel (2007)
as Hagar
Unity (2015)
as Narrator (voice)
The Calling (2014)
as Emily Micallef
Two Men in Town (2014)
as Mère Garnett
Roots of Roe (1993)
as Letters of Margaret Sanger (voice)
The Elephant King (2006)
as Diana Hunt
The Velveteen Rabbit (2009)
as Swan (voice)
And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)
as Self - Interviewee
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
as Self
Act of Vengeance (1986)
as Margaret Yablonski
Love, Marilyn (2013)
as Self
Night of 100 Stars (1982)
as Self
Nostalgia (2018)
as Helen Greer
Breakdown: 1975 (2025)
as Self
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
as Self
People vs. Jean Harris (1981)
as Jean Harris
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2012)
as Nanette
Didn't You Used to Be Satan? (1996)
as Self
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
as Sally
According to Greta (2009)
as Katherine
All I Wish (2018)
as Celia Berges
Three Months (2022)
as Valerie
Queen Bees (2021)
as Helen Wilson
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
as Kate MacKenzie
Watch on the Rhine (2021)
as Fanny
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)
as Mrs. Stocks (voice)
The Patron Saint of Liars (1998)
as June Clatterbuck
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
as Self
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)
as Ruby
Earth and the American Dream (1992)
as Reader (voice)
Getting Gotti (1994)
as Jo Giacalone
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (1998)
as Self - Chris MacNeil
Mitch Albom's For One More Day (2007)
as Pauline "Posey" Benetto
Pack of Lies (1987)
as Barbara Jackson
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self
Friedkin Uncut (2018)
as Self
Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love (1991)
as Lillian "Lil" Lambert
Hanna's War (1988)
as Katalin
The Cemetery Club (1993)
as Esther Moskowitz
Goodbye Charlie (1964)
as Franny Salzman
About Scout (2015)
as Gram
For Those Who Think Young (1964)
as Dr. Pauline Swenson
Resurrection (1980)
as Edna
Bathing Flo (—)
Actor
Delphine and Carole (2020)
as Self (archive footage)
Our Fathers (2005)
as Mary Ryan
Mrs. Harris (2005)
as Former Tarnower Steady
American Woman (2019)
as Miss Dolly
The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel (2004)
as Tommie
Getting Out (1994)
as Arlie's Mother
Walking Across Egypt (1999)
as Mattie Rigsbee
Surviving (1985)
as Tina Brogan
Be Pretty and Shut Up! (1981)
as Self
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute (1974)
as Self (archive footage)
The Ambassador (1985)
as Alex Hacker
PoliWood (2009)
as Self
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (1989)
as Self
Place to Be (2026)
as Brooke
The Mighty Macs (2011)
as Mother St. John
Night Ride Home (1999)
as Maggie
Silence of the North (1981)
as Olive Frederickson
A Deadly Vision (1997)
as Yvette Watson
Alex in Wonderland (1970)
as Beth Morrison
Duse, the Greatest (2025)
Actor
The Last Picture Show: A Look Back (1999)
as Self
River of Fundament (2014)
as Hathfertiti
Timepiece (1996)
as Maud Gannon
When It Was a Game 2 (1992)
as Passage Narrator (voice)
My Brother's Keeper (1995)
as Helen
This Ordinary Thing (2025)
as Self (voice)
When You Remember Me (1990)
as Nurse Cooder
Marilyn in Manhattan (1998)
as Self
Grand Isle (1991)
as Mademoiselle Reisz
Trick of the Eye (1994)
as Frances Griffin
The Making of Requiem for a Dream (2001)
as Self
The Color of Evening (1990)
as Kate O'Rielly
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story (1992)
as Wilma
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow (2006)
as Self
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance (2010)
as Self
Easy Out? (1948)
as Mary
I Love Liberty (1982)
as Self
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies (2019)
as Self
Into Thin Air (1985)
as Joan Walker
Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes (2021)
as Herself
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story (1993)
as Joan Delvecchio
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime (2017)
as Self
You Can Thank Me Later (1998)
as Shirley Cooperberg
Follow The River (1995)
as Gretel
Mermaid (2000)
as Trish
Tropic of Cancer (1970)
as Mona (uncredited)
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist (2024)
as Self
A Dream of Passion (1978)
as Brenda Collins
Brush with Fate (2003)
as Rika
The Christmas Tree (1958)
as Elizabeth
Pit Stop (1969)
as Ellen McCleod
Ricochet (1961)
as Rose Maxon
Memories, Dreams & Addictions (2001)
as Self
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (2010)
as Self
Within These Walls (2001)
as Joan Thomas
Something in Common (1986)
as Lynn Hollander
E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump (2024)
as E. Jean Carroll
Reflections of a Philosopher King (2010)
as Self