Actor
Ellen Burstyn
Born 7 December 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.
Films and shows
- 2026
Place to Be1h 50mBrooke - 2026
Flesh Impact17mMarilyn Monroe - 2025
Duse, the Greatest - 2025
This Ordinary Thing1h 3mSelf (voice) - 2025
Breakdown: 19751h 32mSelf - 2024
E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump18mE. Jean Carroll - 2024
Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist1h 1mSelf - 2024
Mother, Couch1h 36mMother - 2023
The Exorcist: Believer1h 51mChris MacNeil - 2022
Three Months1h 44mValerie - 2022
Reframed: Marilyn Monroe1 seasonSelf - 2021
Queen Bees1h 41mHelen Wilson - 2021
Watch on the Rhine2h 9mFanny - 2021
Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes52mHerself - 2020
Pieces of a Woman2h 7mElizabeth Weiss - 2020
Delphine and Carole1h 11mSelf (archive footage) - 2019
Lucy in the Sky2h 5mNana Holbrook - 2019
American Woman1h 25mMiss Dolly - 2019
The House of Tomorrow1h 25mJosephine Prendergast - 2019
Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies1h 20mSelf - 2018
All I Wish1h 34mCelia Berges - 2018
The Tale1h 55mNettie - 2018
Friedkin Uncut1h 47mSelf - 2018
Nostalgia1h 55mHelen Greer - 2017
Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime47mSelf - 2016
Wiener-Dog1h 28mNana - 2016
Custody1h 44mBeatrice Fisher - 2015
About Scout1h 32mGram - 2015
The Age of Adaline1h 52mFlemming - 2014
And the Oscar Goes To...1h 35mSelf - Interviewee - 2014
The Calling1h 48mEmily Micallef - 2014
River of Fundament6h 11mHathfertiti - 2014
Two Men in Town2hMère Garnett - 2014
Flowers in the Attic1h 30mGrandmother - 2014
Interstellar2h 49mMurph (older) - 2014
Draft Day1h 50mBarb Weaver - 2014
Petals on the Wind1h 25mOlivia Foxworth - 2013
Wish You Well1h 40mLouisa Mae Cardinal - 2013
Love, Marilyn1h 45mSelf - 2012
Political Animals1 seasonMargaret Barrish - 2012
Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You1h 39mNanette - 2012
Coma1 seasonMrs. Emerson - 2011
The Mighty Macs1h 42mMother St. John - 2011
Another Happy Day1h 59mDoris Baker - 2010
Main Street1h 32mGeorgiana Carr - 2010
BBStory: An American Film Renaissance47mSelf - 2010
Reflections of a Philosopher King10mSelf - 2010America Lost and Found: The BBS Story2hSelf
- 2009
Lovely, Still1h 32mMary - 2009
According to Greta1h 32mKatherine - 2009
The Velveteen Rabbit1h 28mSwan (voice) - 2009Possible Side Effects1 seasonMarnie Hunt
- 2009
PoliWood1h 30mSelf - 2008
The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond1h 42mMiss Addie - 2007
The Stone Angel1h 56mHagar - 2007
Mitch Albom's For One More Day1h 32mPauline "Posey" Benetto - 2006
The Elephant King1h 32mDiana Hunt - 2006
The Wicker Man1h 42mSister Summersisle - 2006
30 Days1h 31mMaura - 2006
The Fountain1h 36mDr. Lillian Guzetti - 2006
Stardust: The Bette Davis Story1h 29mSelf - 2006
Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow1h 19mSelf - 2006
The Book of Daniel1 seasonBishop Beatrice Congreve - 2005
Our Fathers2h 10mMary Ryan - 2005
Mrs. Harris1h 34mFormer Tarnower Steady - 2004
The Five People You Meet In Heaven2h 12mRuby - 2004
The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel1h 30mTommie - 2004
Second Chances: The Making of "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore"20mSelf - 2003
Brush with Fate1h 38mRika - 2003
Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood1h 59mSelf - 2003
A Decade Under the Influence1h 50mSelf - 2002
Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood1h 56mVivi - 2001
Within These Walls1h 40mJoan Thomas - 2001
Memories, Dreams & Addictions20mSelf - 2001
The Making of Requiem for a Dream35mSelf - 2000
Mermaid1h 34mTrish - 2000
Requiem for a Dream1h 42mSara Goldfarb - 2000
The Yards1h 55mVal Handler - 2000
That's Life2 seasonsDolly DeLucca - 1999
Walking Across Egypt1h 40mMattie Rigsbee - 1999
Night Ride Home1h 40mMaggie - 1999
The Last Picture Show: A Look Back1h 5mSelf - 1998
You Can Thank Me Later1h 45mShirley Cooperberg - 1998
A Will of their Own1 seasonVeronica Steward - 1998
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist1h 21mSelf - Chris MacNeil - 1998
The Patron Saint of Liars1h 32mJune Clatterbuck - 1998
Playing by Heart2h 1mMildred - 1998
Marilyn in Manhattan46mSelf - 1997
Flash1h 30mLaura Strong - 1997
Deceiver1h 46mMook - 1997
A Deadly Vision1h 30mYvette Watson - 1996
The Spitfire Grill1h 57mHannah Ferguson - 1996
Timepiece1h 40mMaud Gannon - 1996
Didn't You Used to Be Satan?24mSelf - 1995
Follow The River1h 31mGretel - 1995
How to Make an American Quilt1h 56mHy Dodd - 1995
Roommates1h 48mJudith - 1995My Brother's Keeper1h 34mHelen
- 1995
The Baby-Sitters Club1h 34mMrs. Haberman - 1994
Trick of the Eye1h 35mFrances Griffin - 1994
Getting Out1h 40mArlie's Mother - 1994
When a Man Loves a Woman2h 6mEmily - 1994
Getting Gotti1h 29mJo Giacalone - 1993
The Cemetery Club1h 47mEsther Moskowitz - 1993Roots of Roe56mNarrator (voice)
- 1993
Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story1h 34mJoan Delvecchio - 1992
When It Was a Game 259mPassage Narrator (voice) - 1992
Earth and the American Dream1h 18mReader (voice) - 1992
Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story1h 36mWilma - 1991
Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love1h 32mLillian "Lil" Lambert - 1991
Grand Isle1h 52mMademoiselle Reisz - 1991
Dying Young1h 51mMrs. O'Neil - 1991
Picture This58mSelf - 1990
The Color of Evening1h 30mKate O'Rielly - 1990
When You Remember Me1h 31mNurse Cooder - 1989Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre1h 28mSelf
- 1988
Hanna's War2h 28mKatalin - 1988
Hello Actors Studio2h 54mSelf - 1987
Pack of Lies1h 41mBarbara Jackson - 1987
Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam1h 24mMrs. Stocks (voice) - 1986
Something in Common1h 42mLynn Hollander - 1986
The Ellen Burstyn Show1 seasonEllen Brewer - 1986
Act of Vengeance1h 35mMargaret Yablonski - 1985
Into Thin Air1h 37mJoan Walker - 1985
The Ambassador1h 37mAlex Hacker - 1985
Twice in a Lifetime1h 51mKate MacKenzie - 1985
Surviving2h 23mTina Brogan - 1982
I Love Liberty2hSelf - 1981
Silence of the North1h 34mOlive Frederickson - 1981
People vs. Jean Harris2h 27mJean Harris - 1980
Resurrection1h 43mEdna - 1978
A Dream of Passion1h 50mBrenda Collins - 1978
Same Time, Next Year1h 59mDoris - 1977
Providence1h 50mSonia Langham - 1974
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore1h 52mAlice Hyatt - 1974
Harry and Tonto1h 55mShirley Mallard - 1974
Thursday's Game1h 40mLynne Evers - 1974The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute1h 5mSelf (archive footage)
- 1973
The Exorcist2h 2mChris MacNeil - 1972
The King of Marvin Gardens1h 43mSally - 1971
The Last Picture Show1h 59mLois Farrow - 1970
Alex in Wonderland1h 50mBeth Morrison - 1969
Pit Stop1h 31mEllen McCleod - 1964
Goodbye Charlie1h 56mFranny Salzman - 1964
For Those Who Think Young1h 36mDr. Pauline Swenson - 1961
Ricochet1hRose Maxon - 1958The Christmas Tree1h 50mElizabeth
- 1948
Easy Out?23mMary - Bathing Flo
