Ellen Burstyn
Acting
Born December 7, 1932 · Detroit, Michigan, USA
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.
Directed (1)
Acting (146)
Breakdown: 1975
2025
This Ordinary Thing
2025
Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies
2025
Duse, the Greatest
2025
E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump
2024
Mother, Couch
2024
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist
2024
Martin Scorsese, the Italian-American Master
2024
The Exorcist: Believer
2023
Three Months
2022
Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes
2021
Queen Bees
2021
Watch on the Rhine
2021
Pieces of a Woman
2020
Delphine and Carole
2020
Lucy in the Sky
2019
American Woman
2019
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies
2019
The House of Tomorrow
2019
Friedkin Uncut
2018
Nostalgia
2018
All I Wish
2018
The Tale
2018
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime
2017
Wiener-Dog
2016
Custody
2016
Unity
2015
About Scout
2015
The Age of Adaline
2015
Interstellar
2014
The Calling
2014
Petals on the Wind
2014
Two Men in Town
2014
Draft Day
2014
River of Fundament
2014
And the Oscar Goes To...
2014
Flowers in the Attic
2014
Wish You Well
2013
Love, Marilyn
2013
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
2012
Another Happy Day
2011
The Mighty Macs
2011
Reflections of a Philosopher King
2010
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance
2010
America Lost and Found: The BBS Story
2010
Main Street
2010
According to Greta
2009
Lovely, Still
2009
PoliWood
2009
The Velveteen Rabbit
2009
W.
2008
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
2008
Mitch Albom's For One More Day
2007
The Stone Angel
2007
The Fountain
2006
30 Days
2006
The Wicker Man
2006
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow
2006
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story
2006
The Elephant King
2006
Mrs. Harris
2006
Our Fathers
2005
The Five People You Meet In Heaven
2004
The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel
2004
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Second Chances
2004
A Decade Under the Influence
2003
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood
2003
Brush with Fate
2003
Red Dragon
2002
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood
2002
Within These Walls
2001
Memories, Dreams & Addictions
2001
The Making of Requiem for a Dream
2001
Requiem for a Dream
2000
Mermaid
2000
The Yards
2000
Die letzte Vorstellung: Ein Rückblick
1999
Night Ride Home
1999
Walking Across Egypt
1999
Playing by Heart
1998
Marilyn in Manhattan
1998
You Can Thank Me Later
1998
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist
1998
The Patron Saint of Liars
1998
Flash
1997
Deceiver
1997
A Deadly Vision
1997
Timepiece
1996
The Spitfire Grill
1996
How to Make an American Quilt
1995
The Baby-Sitters Club
1995
Follow The River
1995
My Brother's Keeper
1995
Roommates
1995
Trick of the Eye
1994
Getting Gotti
1994
When a Man Loves a Woman
1994
Getting Out
1994
Roots of Roe
1993
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
1993
The Cemetery Club
1993
Earth and the American Dream
1992
When It Was a Game 2
1992
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story
1992
Picture This
1991
Grand Isle
1991
Dying Young
1991
Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love
1991
When You Remember Me
1990
The Color of Evening
1990
Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre
1989
Hello Actors Studio
1988
Hanna's War
1988
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
1987
Pack of Lies
1987
Something in Common
1986
Act of Vengeance
1986
Into Thin Air
1985
Twice in a Lifetime
1985
Night of 100 Stars II
1985
Surviving
1985
The Ambassador
1985
I Love Liberty
1982
Night of 100 Stars
1982
Silence of the North
1981
People vs. Jean Harris
1981
Be Pretty and Shut Up!
1981
Resurrection
1980
A Dream of Passion
1978
Same Time, Next Year
1978
Providence
1977
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
1974
Harry and Tonto
1974
Thursday's Game
1974
The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute
1974
The Exorcist
1973
The King of Marvin Gardens
1972
The Last Picture Show
1971
Alex in Wonderland
1970
Tropic of Cancer
1970
Pit Stop
1969
Goodbye Charlie
1964
For Those Who Think Young
1964
Ricochet
1961
The Christmas Tree
1958
Easy Out?
1948