Ellen Burstyn
115 movies · 36 TV shows
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- Dec 7, 1932 (age 93)
- Place of birth
- 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).
Read the full biography
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.
Profiles IMDb
Known for
Ellen Burstyn: movies and TV shows
Acting (151)
- Upcoming
- 2026 Place to Be
as Brooke
- 2026 Flesh Impact
as Marilyn Monroe
- 2025
- 2024 E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump
as E. Jean Carroll
- 2024 Mother, Couch
as Mother
- 2023 The Exorcist: Believer
as Chris MacNeil
- 2022
- 2022 Three Months
as Valerie
- 2021 Queen Bees
as Helen Wilson
- 2021 Watch on the Rhine
as Fanny
- 2021
- 2020 Pieces of a Woman
as Elizabeth Weiss
- 2019 Lucy in the Sky
as Nana Holbrook
- 2019 American Woman
as Miss Dolly
- 2019 The House of Tomorrow
as Josephine Prendergast
- 2018 Nostalgia
as Helen Greer
- 2018 All I Wish
as Celia Berges
- 2018 The Tale
as Nettie
- 2016 Wiener-Dog
as Nana
- 2016 Custody
as Beatrice Fisher
- 2015 Unity
as Narrator (voice)
- 2015 About Scout
as Gram
- 2015 The Age of Adaline
as Flemming
- 2014 Interstellar
as Murph (older)
- 2014 The Calling
as Emily Micallef
- 2014 Petals on the Wind
as Olivia Foxworth
- 2014 Two Men in Town
as Mère Garnett
- 2014 Draft Day
as Barb Weaver
- 2014 River of Fundament
as Hathfertiti
- 2014 Flowers in the Attic
as Grandmother
- 2013 Wish You Well
as Louisa Mae Cardinal
- 2013
- 2013
- 2012
- 2012
- 2012 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
as Nanette
- 2011 Another Happy Day
as Doris Baker
- 2011 The Mighty Macs
as Mother St. John
- 2010 Main Street
as Georgiana Carr
- 2009 According to Greta
as Katherine
- 2009 Lovely, Still
as Mary
- 2009 The Velveteen Rabbit
as Swan (voice)
- 2008 W.
as Barbara Bush
- 2008 The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
as Miss Addie
- 2007 Mitch Albom's For One More Day
as Pauline "Posey" Benetto
- 2007 The Stone Angel
as Hagar
- 2006 The Fountain
as Dr. Lillian Guzetti
- 2006 30 Days
as Maura
- 2006 The Wicker Man
as Sister Summersisle
- 2006 The Elephant King
as Diana Hunt
- 2006
- 2006
- 2005 Mrs. Harris
as Former Tarnower Steady
- 2005 Our Fathers
as Mary Ryan
- 2004
- 2004
- 2003 Brush with Fate
as Rika
- 2002 Red Dragon
as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)
- 2002
- 2001 Within These Walls
as Joan Thomas
- 2000 Requiem for a Dream
as Sara Goldfarb
- 2000
- 2000 Mermaid
as Trish
- 2000 The Yards
as Val Handler
- 1999 Walking Across Egypt
as Mattie Rigsbee
- 1999
- 1999 Night Ride Home
as Maggie
- 1998 Playing by Heart
as Mildred
- 1998
- 1998 You Can Thank Me Later
as Shirley Cooperberg
- 1998 The Patron Saint of Liars
as June Clatterbuck
- 1997 Flash
as Laura Strong
- 1997 Deceiver
as Mook
- 1997 A Deadly Vision
as Yvette Watson
- 1996 Timepiece
as Maud Gannon
- 1996 The Spitfire Grill
as Hannah Ferguson
- 1995 How to Make an American Quilt
as Hy Dodd
- 1995 The Baby-Sitters Club
as Mrs. Haberman
- 1995 Follow The River
as Gretel
- 1995 My Brother's Keeper
as Helen
- 1995 Roommates
as Judith
- 1994 Trick of the Eye
as Frances Griffin
- 1994 Getting Gotti
as Jo Giacalone
- 1994 When a Man Loves a Woman
as Emily
- 1994 Getting Out
as Arlie's Mother
- 1993 Roots of Roe
as Letters of Margaret Sanger (voice)
- 1993 Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
as Joan Delvecchio
- 1993 The Cemetery Club
as Esther Moskowitz
- 1992 Earth and the American Dream
as Reader (voice)
- 1992 When It Was a Game 2
as Passage Narrator (voice)
- 1992
- 1991 Grand Isle
as Mademoiselle Reisz
- 1991 Dying Young
as Mrs. O'Neil
- 1991 Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love
as Lillian "Lil" Lambert
- 1990 When You Remember Me
as Nurse Cooder
- 1990 The Color of Evening
as Kate O'Rielly
- 1988
- 1988 Hanna's War
as Katalin
- 1987 Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam
as Mrs. Stocks (voice)
- 1987 Pack of Lies
as Barbara Jackson
- 1986 Something in Common
as Lynn Hollander
- 1986
- 1986 Act of Vengeance
as Margaret Yablonski
- 1985 Into Thin Air
as Joan Walker
- 1985 Twice in a Lifetime
as Kate MacKenzie
- 1985 Surviving
as Tina Brogan
- 1985 The Ambassador
as Alex Hacker
- 1981 Silence of the North
as Olive Frederickson
- 1981 People vs. Jean Harris
as Jean Harris
- 1980 Resurrection
as Edna
- 1978 A Dream of Passion
as Brenda Collins
- 1978 Same Time, Next Year
as Doris
- 1977 Providence
as Sonia Langham
- 1974 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
as Alice Hyatt
- 1974 Harry and Tonto
as Shirley
- 1974 Thursday's Game
as Lynne Evers
- 1973 The Exorcist
as Chris MacNeil
- 1972 The King of Marvin Gardens
as Sally
- 1971 The Last Picture Show
as Lois Farrow
- 1970 Alex in Wonderland
as Beth Morrison
- 1970 Tropic of Cancer
as Mona (uncredited)
- 1969 Pit Stop
as Ellen McCleod
- 1966
- 1965
- 1964 Goodbye Charlie
as Franny Salzman
- 1964 For Those Who Think Young
as Dr. Pauline Swenson
- 1963
- 1963
- 1963
- 1962
- 1962
- 1962
- 1961 Ricochet
as Rose Maxon
- 1961
- 1961
- 1961
- 1961
- 1961
- 1960
- 1960
- 1959
- 1959
- 1958 The Christmas Tree
as Elizabeth
- 1958
- 1957
- 1955
- 1955
- 1953
- 1951
- 1948 Easy Out?
as Mary
Behind the camera (3)
- Upcoming Bathing Flo
Director
- 2019 The House of Tomorrow
Executive Producer
- 2001 Within These Walls
Executive Producer
Talk shows and appearances (46)
- 2025
- 2025
- 2024
- 2022 Reframed: Marilyn Monroe
4 episodes
- 2021
- 2020
- 2019 The Kelly Clarkson Show
2 episodes
- 2019
- 2018
- 2017
- 2014
- 2013
- 2010
- 2010
- 2010
- 2009
- 2006
- 2006
- 2004
- 2003
- 2003
- 2001
- 2001
- 1999
- 1998
- 1998
- 1997 The View
2 episodes
- 1997 HARDtalk
1 episode
- 1996 The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1 episode
- 1994 Inside the Actors Studio
1 episode
- 1991
- 1989
- 1988
- 1985
- 1982
- 1982
- 1981
- 1975 Saturday Night Live
1 episode
- 1975 Les Rendez-vous du dimanche
1 episode
- 1974 Dinah!
1 episode
- 1974
- 1963 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
1 episode
- 1962 The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
1 episode
- 1956 Tony Awards
7 episodes
- 1953 The Oscars
3 episodes
- 1944 Golden Globe Awards
3 episodes