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Ellen Burstyn

Personal Info

Known For

Acting

Birthdate

1932-12-07 (Age: 94)

Place of Birth

Detroit, Michigan, USA

Ellen Burstyn

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.

Filmography (144)

⭐ 6.8 Role: Self

Breakdown: 1975

2025
⭐ 0 Role: Self (voice)

This Ordinary Thing

2025
⭐ 0 Role: Unknown

Duse, the Greatest

2025
⭐ 4.5 Role: E. Jean Carroll

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump

2024
⭐ 5.5 Role: Mother

Mother, Couch

2024
⭐ 0 Role: Self

Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist

2024
⭐ 5.8 Role: Chris MacNeil

The Exorcist: Believer

2023
⭐ 7.0 Role: Valerie

Three Months

2022
⭐ 8.0 Role: Herself

Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes

2021
⭐ 6.0 Role: Helen Wilson

Queen Bees

2021
⭐ 0 Role: Fanny

Watch on the Rhine

2021
⭐ 7.0 Role: Elizabeth Weiss

Pieces of a Woman

2020
⭐ 6.5 Role: Self (archive footage)

Delphine and Carole

2020
⭐ 5.0 Role: Nana Holbrook

Lucy in the Sky

2019
⭐ 4.9 Role: Miss Dolly

American Woman

2019