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 Age of Adaline (2015)
as Flemming
The Exorcist (1973)
as Chris MacNeil
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
as Sara Goldfarb
The Fountain (2006)
as Dr. Lillian Guzetti
The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
as Chris MacNeil
The Last Picture Show (1971)
as Lois Farrow
The Wicker Man (2006)
as Sister Summersisle
Pieces of a Woman (2020)
as Elizabeth Weiss
Draft Day (2014)
as Barb Weaver
The Yards (2000)
as Val Handler
Lucy in the Sky (2019)
as Nana Holbrook
Playing by Heart (1998)
as Mildred
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974)
as Alice Hyatt
Flowers in the Attic (2014)
as Grandmother
When a Man Loves a Woman (1994)
as Emily
Wiener-Dog (2016)
as Nana
Dying Young (1991)
as Mrs. O'Neil
How to Make an American Quilt (1995)
as Hy Dodd
Another Happy Day (2011)
as Doris Baker
Petals on the Wind (2014)
as Olivia Foxworth
Mother, Couch (2024)
as Mother
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002)
as Vivi
All I Wish (2018)
as Celia Berges
Custody (2016)
as Beatrice Fisher
The Tale (2018)
as Nettie
Picture This (1991)
as Self
The Baby-Sitters Club (1995)
as Mrs. Haberman
Love, Marilyn (2013)
as Self
W. (2008)
as Barbara Bush
The Calling (2014)
as Emily Micallef
The House of Tomorrow (2019)
as Josephine Prendergast
For Those Who Think Young (1964)
as Dr. Pauline Swenson
Providence (1977)
as Sonia Langham
The Cemetery Club (1993)
as Esther Moskowitz
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008)
as Miss Addie
Same Time, Next Year (1978)
as Doris
Main Street (2010)
as Georgiana Carr
The King of Marvin Gardens (1972)
as Sally
Flesh Impact (2026)
as Marilyn Monroe
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2012)
as Nanette
The Spitfire Grill (1996)
as Hannah Ferguson
A Decade Under the Influence (2003)
as Self
Red Dragon (2002)
as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)
People vs. Jean Harris (1981)
as Jean Harris
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute (1974)
as Self (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars (1982)
as Self
And the Oscar Goes To... (2014)
as Self - Interviewee
Harry and Tonto (1974)
as Shirley
Two Men in Town (2014)
as Mère Garnett
Breakdown: 1975 (2025)
as Self
Queen Bees (2021)
as Helen Wilson
Deceiver (1997)
as Mook
Wish You Well (2013)
as Louisa Mae Cardinal
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987)
as Mrs. Stocks (voice)
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self
The Five People You Meet In Heaven (2004)
as Ruby
Hello Actors Studio (1988)
as Self
Our Fathers (2005)
as Mary Ryan
Be Pretty and Shut Up! (1981)
as Self
Act of Vengeance (1986)
as Margaret Yablonski
Roommates (1995)
as Judith
Unity (2015)
as Narrator (voice)
According to Greta (2009)
as Katherine
The Velveteen Rabbit (2009)
as Swan (voice)
Lovely, Still (2009)
as Mary
The Stone Angel (2007)
as Hagar
The Mighty Macs (2011)
as Mother St. John
Three Months (2022)
as Valerie
Second Chances: The Making of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (2004)
as Self
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre (1989)
as Self
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story (2006)
as Self
The Patron Saint of Liars (1998)
as June Clatterbuck
When It Was a Game 2 (1992)
as Passage Narrator (voice)
My Brother's Keeper (1995)
as Helen
Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
as Kate MacKenzie
The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel (2004)
as Tommie
I Love Liberty (1982)
as Self
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood (2003)
as Self
Nostalgia (2018)
as Helen Greer
Hanna's War (1988)
as Katalin
Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love (1991)
as Lillian "Lil" Lambert
Earth and the American Dream (1992)
as Reader (voice)
The Ambassador (1985)
as Alex Hacker
Brush with Fate (2003)
as Rika
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (1998)
as Self - Chris MacNeil
About Scout (2015)
as Gram
Friedkin Uncut (2018)
as Self
This Ordinary Thing (2025)
as Self (voice)
Into Thin Air (1985)
as Joan Walker
You Can Thank Me Later (1998)
as Shirley Cooperberg
Silence of the North (1981)
as Olive Frederickson
PoliWood (2009)
as Self
The Making of Requiem for a Dream (2001)
as Self
Getting Out (1994)
as Arlie's Mother
The Last Picture Show: A Look Back (1999)
as Self
American Woman (2019)
as Miss Dolly
When You Remember Me (1990)
as Nurse Cooder
Getting Gotti (1994)
as Jo Giacalone
Flash (1997)
as Laura Strong
Delphine and Carole (2020)
as Self (archive footage)
Goodbye Charlie (1964)
as Franny Salzman
Mitch Albom's For One More Day (2007)
as Pauline "Posey" Benetto
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story (1993)
as Joan Delvecchio
The Color of Evening (1990)
as Kate O'Rielly
Tropic of Cancer (1970)
as Mona (uncredited)
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist (2024)
as Self
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance (2010)
as Self
30 Days (2006)
as Maura
Alex in Wonderland (1970)
as Beth Morrison
River of Fundament (2014)
as Hathfertiti
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story (1992)
as Wilma
Mrs. Harris (2005)
as Former Tarnower Steady
Trick of the Eye (1994)
as Frances Griffin
Watch on the Rhine (2021)
as Fanny
Duse, the Greatest (2025)
Actor
Resurrection (1980)
as Edna
A Deadly Vision (1997)
as Yvette Watson
Walking Across Egypt (1999)
as Mattie Rigsbee
Timepiece (1996)
as Maud Gannon
Pack of Lies (1987)
as Barbara Jackson
Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes (2021)
as Herself
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story (2010)
as Self
Follow The River (1995)
as Gretel
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow (2006)
as Self
Night Ride Home (1999)
as Maggie
Something in Common (1986)
as Lynn Hollander
E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump (2024)
as E. Jean Carroll
Grand Isle (1991)
as Mademoiselle Reisz
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies (2019)
as Self
Place to Be (2026)
as Brooke
Pit Stop (1969)
as Ellen McCleod
Thursday's Game (1974)
as Lynne Evers
Roots of Roe (1993)
as Letters of Margaret Sanger (voice)
The Elephant King (2006)
as Diana Hunt
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime (2017)
as Self
Surviving (1985)
as Tina Brogan
Ricochet (1961)
as Rose Maxon
Reflections of a Philosopher King (2010)
as Self
Within These Walls (2001)
as Joan Thomas
Marilyn in Manhattan (1998)
as Self
Mermaid (2000)
as Trish
The Christmas Tree (1958)
as Elizabeth
A Dream of Passion (1978)
as Brenda Collins
Bathing Flo (—)
Actor
Memories, Dreams & Addictions (2001)
as Self
Easy Out? (1948)
as Mary