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