
Cast
Ellen Burstyn
Acting
Cast
Ellen Burstyn
Known for
Acting
Born
1932-12-07
From
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Also known as Ellen McRae, Edna Rae Gilhooley
Biography
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.

Interstellar
as Murph (older)

The Exorcist
as Chris MacNeil

The Age of Adaline
as Flemming

Requiem for a Dream
as Sara Goldfarb

The Fountain
as Dr. Lillian Guzetti

The Exorcist: Believer
as Chris MacNeil

Dying Young
as Mrs. O'Neil

The Wicker Man
as Sister Summersisle

Unity
as Narrator (voice)

Flowers in the Attic
as Grandmother

The Tale
as Nettie

The Yards
as Val Handler

The Last Picture Show
as Lois Farrow

W.
as Barbara Bush

Breakdown: 1975
as Self

When a Man Loves a Woman
as Emily

Draft Day
as Barb Weaver

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
as Self

Playing by Heart
as Mildred

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
as Alice Hyatt

Night of 100 Stars II
as Self

The House of Tomorrow
as Josephine Prendergast

Roommates
as Judith

Pieces of a Woman
as Elizabeth Weiss

Petals on the Wind
as Olivia Foxworth

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
as Vivi

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
as Mrs. Stocks (voice)

How to Make an American Quilt
as Hy Dodd

Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
as Self

And the Oscar Goes To...
as Self - Interviewee

Getting Out
as Arlie's Mother

Three Months
as Valerie

The Ambassador
as Alex Hacker

Earth and the American Dream
as Reader (voice)

Red Dragon
as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)

Deceiver
as Mook

The Baby-Sitters Club
as Mrs. Haberman

Timepiece
as Maud Gannon

Another Happy Day
as Doris Baker

Night of 100 Stars
as Self

Lucy in the Sky
as Nana Holbrook

Love, Marilyn
as Self

Harry and Tonto
as Shirley Mallard

Mother, Couch
as Mother

The Calling
as Emily Micallef

Nostalgia
as Helen Greer

A Decade Under the Influence
as Self

Same Time, Next Year
as Doris

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
as Nanette

Two Men in Town
as Mère Garnett

Wiener-Dog
as Nana

Custody
as Beatrice Fisher

Main Street
as Georgiana Carr

The King of Marvin Gardens
as Sally

Hello Actors Studio
as Self

Act of Vengeance
as Margaret Yablonski

Queen Bees
as Helen Wilson

Hanna's War
as Katalin

River of Fundament
as Hathfertiti

Providence
as Sonia Langham

Wish You Well
as Louisa Mae Cardinal

PoliWood
as Self

Resurrection
as Edna

The Mighty Macs
as Mother St. John

Into Thin Air
as Joan Walker

All I Wish
as Celia Berges

The Stone Angel
as Hagar

A Deadly Vision
as Yvette Watson

Goodbye Charlie
as Franny Salzman

Twice in a Lifetime
as Kate MacKenzie

The Spitfire Grill
as Hannah Ferguson

The Last Picture Show: A Look Back
as Self

Our Fathers
as Mary Ryan

Mrs. Harris
as Former Tarnower Steady

According to Greta
as Katherine

Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story
as Wilma

Be Pretty and Shut Up!
as Self

People vs. Jean Harris
as Jean Harris

American Woman
as Miss Dolly

Lovely, Still
as Mary

Flash
as Laura Strong

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
as Self - Chris MacNeil

The Elephant King
as Diana Hunt

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
as Miss Addie

I Love Liberty
as Self

My Brother's Keeper
as Helen

The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
as Self (archive footage)

The Five People You Meet In Heaven
as Ruby

30 Days
as Maura

This Ordinary Thing
as Self (voice)

The Patron Saint of Liars
as June Clatterbuck

When You Remember Me
as Nurse Cooder

The Cemetery Club
as Esther Moskowitz

About Scout
as Gram

When It Was a Game 2
as Passage Narrator (voice)

Surviving
as Tina Brogan

Follow The River
as Gretel

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
as Self

For Those Who Think Young
as Dr. Pauline Swenson

Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love
as Lillian "Lil" Lambert

Picture This
as Self

Delphine and Carole
as Self (archive footage)

Friedkin Uncut
as Self

The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel
as Tommie

You Can Thank Me Later
as Shirley Cooperberg

The Velveteen Rabbit
as Swan (voice)

Getting Gotti
as Jo Giacalone

Mermaid
as Trish

Alex in Wonderland
as Beth Morrison

Silence of the North
as Olive Frederickson

Ricochet
as Rose Maxon

Walking Across Egypt
as Mattie Rigsbee

Pack of Lies
as Barbara Jackson

Tropic of Cancer
as Mona (uncredited)

Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes
as Herself

The Christmas Tree
as Elizabeth

Thursday's Game
as Lynne Evers

Place to Be
as Brooke

A Dream of Passion
as Brenda Collins

Pit Stop
as Ellen McCleod

The Color of Evening
as Kate O'Rielly

The Making of Requiem for a Dream
as Self

Trick of the Eye
as Frances Griffin

Grand Isle
as Mademoiselle Reisz

Night Ride Home
as Maggie

BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
as Self

Brush with Fate
as Rika

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump
as E. Jean Carroll

Duse, the Greatest

Something in Common
as Lynn Hollander

Within These Walls
as Joan Thomas

Watch on the Rhine
as Fanny

Second Chances: The Making of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"
as Self

Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies
as Self

Mitch Albom's For One More Day
as Pauline "Posey" Benetto

Marilyn in Manhattan
as Self

Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime
as Self

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
as Self

Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
as Joan Delvecchio

Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
as Self

Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
as Self

Mr. Skins Favorite Nude Scenes of 1970
as Herself (Archive Footage)

Reflections of a Philosopher King
as Self

Roots of Roe
as Narrator (voice)

Bathing Flo

Memories, Dreams & Addictions
as Self

Easy Out?
as Mary