Ellen Burstyn

Actresses

Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complex women in dramas, she is the recipient of 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.

Early in her career she was credited under the name Ellen McRae, including her first 3 films: For Those Who Think Young (1964), with James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Paul Lynde, Tina Louise, Bob Denver, Nancy Sinatra, Robert Middleton, Claudia Martin and Woody Woodbury; Vincente Minnelli’s Goodbye Charlie (1964), with Tony Curtis, Debbie Reynolds, Pat Boone, Joanna Barnes, and Walter Matthau; and Jack Hill’s Pit Stop (1969), with Brian Donlevy, Dick Davalos, Sid Haig, and Beverly Washburn. Her first film role under the name Ellen Burstyn was in Paul Mazursky’s Alex in Wonderland (1970), with Donald Sutherland, and cameos by Federico Fellini and Jeanne Moreau.

She received her first Academy Award nomination (in the Best Supporting Actress category) for Peter Bogdanovich’s The Last Picture Show (1971), with Timothy Bottoms, Jeff Bridges, Ben Johnson, Cloris Leachman, and Cybill Shepherd. She received her first Best Actress nomination for William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973), with Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair.

She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Martin Scorsese’s Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), with Kris Kristofferson, Billy “Green” Bush, Diane Ladd, Valerie Curtin, Lelia Goldoni, Vic Tayback, Jodie Foster, Alfred Lutter, and Harvey Keitel; and received a third Best Actress nomination for Robert Mulligan’s Same Time, Next Year (1978), with Alan Alda.

Other notable films of the 1970s include Joseph Strick’s Tropic of Cancer (1970), with Rip Torn, James T. Callahan, David Baur, Laurence Lignères, Phil Brown and Dominique Delpierre; Bob Rafelson’s The King of Marvin Gardens (1972), with Jack Nicholson, Bruce Dern, and Scatman Crothers; Mazursky’s Harry and Tonto (1974), with Art Carney, Herbert Berghof, Philip Bruns, Geraldine Fitzgerald, Larry Hagman, Chief Dan George, Melanie Mayron, Joshua Mostel, Arthur Hunnicutt, Barbara Rhoades, Cliff DeYoung, and Avon Long; Alain Resnais’s Providence (1977), with Dirk Bogarde, John Gielgud, David Warner, and Elaine Stritch; and Jules Dassin’s A Dream of Passion (1978), with Melina Mercouri.

She received a fourth Best Actress nomination for Daniel Petrie’s Resurrection (1980), with Sam Shepard, Richard Farnsworth, Roberts Blossom, Lois Smith, and Eva Le Gallienne. Other notable films of the 1980s include Allan King’s Silence of the North (1981), with Tom Skerritt and Gordon Pinsent; J. Lee Thompson’s The Ambassador (1984), with Robert Mitchum, Rock Hudson, Fabio Testi, and Donald Pleasence; Bud Yorkin’s Twice in a Lifetime (1985), with Gene Hackman, Ann-Margret, Amy Madigan, Ally Sheedy, and Brian Dennehy; and Menaham Golan’s Hanna’s War (1988), with Maruschka Detmers, Anthony Andrews, Pleasence, and Warner.

Films in the 1990s include The Color of Evening (1990), with Martin Landau, Ione Skye, Roddy McDowall, Kyle Chandler, Stuart Whitman, Andrea King, and Hildy Brooks; Joel Schumacher’s Dying Young (1991), with Julia Roberts, Campbell Scott, Vincent D’Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst, and David Selby; Grand Isle (1991), with Kelly McGillis, Adrian Pasdar, Julian Sands, Jon DeVries, and Glenne Headly; Bill Duke’s The Cemetery Club (1993), with Olympia Dukakis, Diane Ladd, Danny Aiello, Lainie Kazan, Christina Ricci, Bernie Casey, and Wallace Shawn; Luis Mandoki’s When a Man Loves a Woman (1994), with Andy García, Meg Ryan, Tina Majorino, Mae Whitman, Lauren Tom, and Philip Seymour Hoffman; Peter Yates’s Roommates (1995), with Peter Falk, D.B. Sweeney, Julianne Moore, and Jan Rubeš; Jocelyn Moorhouse’s How to Make an American Quilt (1995), with Winona Ryder, Anne Bancroft, Kate Nelligan, Alfre Woodard, Maya Angelou, Kate Capshaw, Loren Dean, Samantha Mathis, Dermot Mulroney, Derrick O’Connor, Jean Simmons, Lois Smith, Torn, and Mykelti Williamson; and The Baby-Sitter’s Cub (1995), with Schuyler Fisk, Bre Blair, Rachael Leigh Cook, Larisa Oleynik, Zelda Harris, Brooke Adams, Colleen Camp, and Bruce Davison.

Films in the late 1990s include The Spitfire Grill (1996), with Alison Elliott, Marcia Gay Harden, Will Patton, Kieran Mulroney and Gailard Sartain; Deceiver (1997), with Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Michael Rooker, Rosanna Arquette, Renée Zellweger, Michael Parks, and Mark Damon; You Can Thank Me Later (1998), with Amanda Plummer, Ted Levine, Mark Blum, Mary McDonnell, Geneviève Bujold, and Jacob Tierney; Playing by Heart (1998), with Gillian Anderson, Sean Connery, Anthony Edwards, Angelina Jolie, Jay Mohr, Ryan Phillippe, Dennis Quaid, Gena Rowlands, Jon Stewart, Madeleine Stowe, Patricia Clarkson, Michael Emerson, and Amanda Peet; and Arthur Allan Seidelman’s Walking Across Egypt (1999), with Jonathan Taylor Thomas, Mark Hamill, Gail O’Grady, Judge Reinhold, and Pat Corley.

She received a fifth Best Actress nomination for Darren Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream (2000), with Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans, Christopher McDonald, Mark Margolis, Louise Lasser, Marcia Jean Kurtz, Suzanne Shepherd, Sean Gullette, Keith David, and Dylan Baker. Other films in the 2000s include James Gray’s The Yards (2000), with Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Charlize Theron, Faye Dunaway, and James Caan; Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002), with Sandra Bullock, Fionnula Flanagan, James Garner, Ashley Judd, Shirley Knight, Angus Macfadyen, and Maggie Smith; and Down in the Valley (2005), with Edward Norton, Evan Rachel Wood, David Morse, Rory Culkin, Geoffrey Lewis, Elizabeth Peña, Kat Dennings, and Aviva Faber.

Films in the mid to late 2000s include The Elephant King (2006), with Tate Ellington, Jonno Roberts, Florence Faivre, and Josef Sommer; Neil LaBute’s The Wicker Man (2006), with Nicolas Cage, Kate Beahan, Frances Conroy, Molly Parker, Leelee Sobieski, and Diane Delano; The Fountain (2006), with Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Stephen McHattie, and Cliff Curtis; The Stone Angel (2007), with Christine Horne, Cole Hauser, Dylan Baker, Kevin Zegers, and Elliot Page; Lovely, Still (2008), with Martin Landau, Adam Scott, and Elizabeth Banks; The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008), with Bryce Dallas Howard, Chris Evans, Ann-Margret, Will Patton, Mamie Gummer, and Jessica Collins; Oliver Stone’s W. (2008), with Josh Brolin, Banks, James Cromwell, Richard Dreyfuss, Scott Glenn, Toby Jones, Stacy Keach, Bruce McGill, Thandiwe Newton, and Jeffrey Wright; The Velveteen Rabbit (2009), with Jane Seymour and Tom Skerritt; The Mighty Macs (2009), with Carla Gugino, Marley Shelton, and David Boreanaz; and according to Greta (2009), with Hilary Duff, Evan Ross, Melissa Leo, John Rothman, Maury Ginsberg, and Michael Murphy.

Films in the 2010s include Main Street (2010), with Orlando Bloom, Colin Firth, Andrew McCarthy, Amber Tamblyn, and Patricia Clarkson; Sam Levinson’s Another Happy Day (2011), with Ellen Barkin, Kate Bosworth, Thomas Haden Church, Jeffrey DeMunn, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, George Kennedy, Ezra Miller, Demi Moore, Diana Scarwid, and Daniel Yelsky; Roberto Faenza’s Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011), with Toby Regbo, Marcia Gay Harden, Lucy Liu, Siobhan Fallon Hogan, Peter Gallagher, Deborah Ann Woll, and Aubrey Plaza; Wish You Well (2013), with Mackenzie Foy, Josh Lucas, and JP Vanderloo; Rachid Bouchareb’s Two Men in Town (2014), with Forest Whitaker, Keitel, Luis Guzmán, and Brenda Blethyn; Ivan Reitman’s Draft Day (2014), with Kevin Costner, Jennifer Garner, Denis Leary, Frank Langella, Sam Elliott, and Chadwick Boseman; Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), with Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, Matt Damon, and Michael Caine; The Calling (2014), with Susan Sarandon, Gil Bellows, Topher Grace, Donald Sutherland, and Christopher Heyerdahl; and the English dub of When Marnie Was There (2014), with Hailee Steinfeld, Vanessa Williams, Geena Davis, John C. Reilly, and Kathy Bates.

Films in the mid to late 2010s include Lee Toland Krieger’s The Age of Adaline (2015), with Blake Lively, Michiel Huisman, Harrison Ford, Kathy Baker, Amanda Crew, and narration by Hugh Ross; Todd Solondz’s Weiner-Dog (2016), with Kieran Culkin, Julie Delpy, Danny DeVito, Greta Gerwig, Tracy Letts, and Zosia Mamet; Custody (2016), with Viola Davis, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Hayden Panettiere, Selenis Leyva, Olga Merediz, Dan Fogler, Raúl Esparza, and Tony Shalhoub; The House of Tomorrow (2017), Nick Offerman, Asa Butterfield, Alex Wolff, Maude Apatow, and Michaela Watkins; All I Wish (2017), with Sharon Stone, Tony Goldwyn, and Famke Janssen; Mark Pellington’s Nostalgia (2018), with Jon Hamm, Catherine Keener, John Ortiz, Nick Offerman, James LeGros, and Dern; Jennifer Fox’s The Tale (2018), with Laura Dern, Jason Ritter, Elizabeth Debicki, Isabelle Nélisse, Common, Frances Conroy, and John Heard; American Woman (2019), with Hong Chau, Sarah Gadon, John Gallagher Jr., Lola Kirke, David Cubitt, Jordan Pettle, and Richard Walters; and Lucy in the Sky (2019), with Natalie Portman, Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, and Colman Domingo.

Films in the 2020s include Kornél Mundruczó’s Pieces of a Woman (2020), with Vanessa Kirby, Shia LaBeouf, Parker, Sarah Snook, Iliza Shlesinger, Benny Safdie, and Jimmie Fails; Queen Bees (2021), with Caan, Ann-Margret, Christopher Lloyd, Jane Curtin, Loretta Devine, and Elizabeth Mitchell; Three Months (2022), with Troye Sivan, Viveik Kalra, Brianne Tju, Javier Muñoz, Judy Greer, Amy Landecker, and Louis Gossett Jr.; Mother, Couch (2023), with Ewan McGregor, Rhys Ifans, Taylor Russell, Lara Flynn Boyle, Lake Bell, and F. Murray Abraham; and David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer (2023), with Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Olivia O‘Neill, Jennifer Nettles, Norbert Leo Butz, and Ann Dowd.

TV movies and miniseries include Thursday’s Game (1974), with Gene Wilder, Bob Newhart, Leachman, Nancy Walker, Valerie Harper, Norman Fell, Rob Reiner, and Martha Scott; The People vs. Jean Harris (1981), with Martin Balsam, Richard Dysart, and Peter Coyote; Surviving: A Family in Crisis (1985), with Zach Galligan, Molly Ringwald, Len Cariou, Marsha Mason, Paul Sorvino, River Phoenix, and Heather O’Rourke; Act of Vengeance (1986), with Charles Bronson, Wilford Brimley, Hoyt Acton, Ellen Barkin, Maury Chaykin, and Keanu Reeves; Pack of Lies (1987), with Alan Bates, Teri Garr, and Daniel Benzali; When You Remember Me (1990), with Fred Savage, Kevin Spacey, Richard Jenkins, Ving Rhames, and Dean Norris; Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story (1992), with Patricia Wettig, Stephen Lang, Shelley Hack, and Joanna Cassidy; Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story (1993), with Melissa Gilbert and Kate Nelligan; Trick of the Eye (1994), with Meg Tilly, Barnard Hughes, Paxton Whitehead, and Alastair Duncan; Getting Gotti (1994), with Lorraine Bracco, Anthony Denison, and August Schellenberg; Follow the River (1995), with Sheryl Lee, Tim Guinee, Andy Stahl, Eric Schweig, and Renee O’Connor; and Simon Wincer’s Flash (1998), with Lucas Black, Brian Kerwin, Shawn Toovey, and Wilbur Fitzgerald.

More TV movies and miniseries include A Will of Their Own (1998), with Lea Thompson, Dunaway, and Thomas Gibson; Stephen Gyllenhaal’s The Patron Saint of Liars (1998), with Dana Delany, Clancy Brown, and Maggie Gyllenhaal; Night Ride Home (1999), with Rebecca De Mornay, Keith Carradine, and Thora Birch; Mermaid (2000), with Samantha Mathis and Jodelle Ferland; Brush with Fate (2003), with Glenn Close and Phyllida Law; The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004), with Jon Voight and Jeff Daniels; Mrs. Harris (2005), with Annette Bening, Ben Kingsley, Chloë Sevigny, Frances Fisher, Michael Gross, Mary McDonnell, and Philip Baker Hall; For One More Day (2007), with Michael Imperioli; Political Animals (2012), with Sigourney Weaver, Carla Gugino, James Wolk, Sebastian Stan, Brittany Ishibashi, and Ciarán Hinds; Coma (2012), with Lauren Ambrose, Steven Pasquale, Geena Davis,,James Woods, Dreyfuss, James Rebhorn, Joe Morton, Michael Weston, and Joseph Mazzello; Flowers in the Attic (2014), with Kiernan Shipka,, Mason Dye, and Heather Graham; and Petals on the Wind (2014), with Graham, Rose McIver, Wyatt Nash, and Bailey Buntain.

Each review will be linked to the title below.

(*seen originally in theaters)

(**seen rereleased in theaters)

  • For Those Who Think Young (1964) – directed by Leslie H. Martinson – credited as Ellen McRae
  • Goodbye Charlie (1964) – directed by Vincente Minnelli – credited as Ellen McRae
  • Pit Stop (1969) – directed by Jack Hill – credited as Ellen McRae
  • Tropic of Cancer (1970) – directed by Joseph Strick
  • Alex in Wonderland (1970) – directed by Paul Mazursky
  • The Last Picture Show (1971) – directed by Peter Bogdanovich
  • The King of Marvin Gardens (1972) – directed by Bob Rafelson
  • The Exorcist (1973)** – directed by William Friedkin
  • Thursday’s Game (1974) – directed by Robert Moore – TV movie
  • Harry and Tonto (1974) – directed by Paul Mazursky
  • Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) – directed by Martin Scorsese
  • Providence (1977) – directed by Alain Resnais
  • A Dream of Passion (1978) – directed by Jules Dassin
  • Same Time, Next Year (1978) – directed by Robert Mulligan
  • The People vs. Jean Harris (1981) – directed by George Schaefer – TV movie
  • Silence of the North (1981) – directed by Allan King
  • The Ambassador (1984) – directed by J. Lee Thompson
  • Surviving (1985) – directed by Waris Hussein – TV movie
  • Twice in a Lifetime (1985) – directed by Bud Yorkin
  • Into Thin Air (1985) – directed by Roger Young – TV movie
  • Act of Vengeance (1986) – directed by John Mackenzie – TV movie
  • Something in Common (1986) – directed by Glenn Jordan – TV movie
  • Pack of Lies (1987) – directed by Anthony Page – TV movie
  • Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam (1987) – directed by Bill Couturié – TV documentary
  • Look Away (1987) – directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman – TV movie
  • Hanna’s War (1988) – directed by Menahem Golan
  • When You Remember Me (1990) – directed by Harry Winer – TV movie
  • The Color of Evening (1990) – directed by Steve Stafford
  • Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love (1991) – directed by Charles Matthau – TV movie
  • Dying Young (1991) – directed by Joel Schumacher
  • Grand Isle (1991) – directed by Mary Lambert
  • Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story (1992) – directed by Harry Winer – TV movie
  • The Cemetery Club (1993) – directed by Bill Duke
  • Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story (1993) – directed by Bill Corcoran – TV movie
  • The Roots of Roe (1993) – directed by Andy Haas – narrator – TV documentary
  • Getting Out (1994) – directed by John Korty – TV movie
  • When a Man Loves a Woman (1994) – directed by Luis Mandoki
  • Getting Gotti (1994) – directed by Roger Young – TV movie
  • Trick of the Eye (1994) – directed by Ed Kaplan – TV movie
  • Roommates (1995) – directed by Peter Yates
  • My Brother’s Keeper (1995) – directed by Glenn Jordan – TV movie
  • Follow the River (1995) – directed by Martin Davidson – TV movie
  • The Baby-Sitters Club (1995) – directed by Melanie Mayron
  • How to Make an American Quilt (1995) – directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse
  • The Spitfire Grill (1996) – directed by Lee David Zlotoff
  • Our Son, the Matchmaker (1996) – directed by Lorraine Senna – TV movie
  • Timepiece (1996 – directed by Marcus Cole – TV movie
  • A Deadly Vision (1997) – directed by Bill Norton – TV movie
  • Deceiver (1997) – directed by Jonas & Josh Pate
  • Flash (1997) – directed by Simon Wincer – TV movie
  • The Patron Saint of Liars (1998) – directed by Stephen Gyllenhaal – TV movie
  • You Can Thank Me Later (1998) – directed by Shimon Dotan
  • A Will of Their Own (1998) – directed by Karen Arthur – miniseries
  • Playing by Heart (1998) – directed by Willard Carroll
  • Night Ride Home (1999) – directed by Glenn Jordan – TV movie
  • Walking Across Egypt (1999) – directed by Arthur Allan Seidelman
  • The Yards (2000) – directed by James Gray
  • Requiem for a Dream (2000) – directed by Darren Aronofsky
  • Mermaid (2000) – directed by Peter Masterson – TV movie
  • Dodson’s Journey (2001) – directed by Gregg Champion – TV movie
  • Within These Walls (2001) – directed by Mike Robe – TV movie
  • Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (2002) – directed by Callie Khouri
  • Distance (2002) – directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz – short
  • Red Dragon (2002) – directed by Brett Ratner – uncredited voice cameo
  • Brush with Fire (2003) – directed by Brent Shields – TV movie
  • The Madam’s Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel (2004) – directed by Ron Lagomarsino – TV movie
  • The Five People You Meet in Heaven (2004) – directed by Lloyd Kramer – TV movie
  • Our Fathers (2005) – directed by Dan Curtis – TV movie
  • Mrs. Harris (2005) – directed by Phyllis Nagy – TV movie
  • The Elephant King (2006) – directed by Seth Grossman
  • The Wicker Man (2006) – directed by Neil LaBute
  • The Fountain (2006) – directed by Darren Aronofsky
  • 30 Days (2006) – directed by Jamal Joseph
  • The Stone Angel (2007) – directed by Kari Skogland
  • Mitch Albom’s for One More Day (2007) – directed by Lloyd Kramer – TV movie
  • Lovely, Still (2008) – directed by Nik Fackler
  • The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond (2008) – directed by Jodie Markell
  • W. (2008) – directed by Oliver Stone
  • The Velveteen Rabbit (2009) – directed by Michael Landon Jr.
  • The Mighty Macs (2009) – directed by Tim Chambers
  • According to Greta (2009) – directed by Nancy Bardawil
  • PoliWood (2009) – directed by Barry Levinson – herself – documentary
  • Main Street (2010) – directed by John Doyle
  • Another Happy Day (2011) – directed by Sam Levinson
  • Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You (2011) – directed by Roberto Faenza
  • Political Animals (2012) – directed by David Petrarca, Greg Berlanti, Tucker Gates, Michael Morris, & Bethany Rooney – miniseries
  • Coma (2012) – directed by Mikael Salomon – miniseries
  • Wish You Well (2013) – directed by Darnell Martin
  • Two Men in Town (2014) – directed by Rachid Bouchareb
  • River of Fundament (2014) – directed by Matthew Barney
  • Draft Day (2014) – directed by Ivan Reitman
  • When Marnie Was There (2014) – directed by Hiromasa Yonebayashi – English dub
  • The Calling (2014) – directed by Jason Stone
  • Interstellar (2014) – directed by Christopher Nolan
  • The Age of Adaline (2015) – directed by Lee Toland Krieger
  • About Scout (2015) – directed by Laurie Weltz
  • Unity (2015) – directed by Shaun Monson – narrator – documentary
  • Weiner-Dog (2016) – directed by Todd Solondz
  • Custody (2016) – directed by James Lapine
  • The House of Tomorrow (2017) – directed by Peter Livolsi – also executive producer
  • All I Wish (2017) – directed by Susan Walter
  • Nostalgia (2018) – directed by Mark Pellington
  • The Tale (2018) – directed by Jennifer Fox
  • American Woman (2019) – directed by Semi Chellas
  • Lucy in the Sky (2019) – directed by Noah Hawley
  • Pieces of a Woman (2020) – directed by Kornél Mundruczó
  • Queen Bees (2021) – directed by Michael Lembeck
  • Three Months (2022) – directed by Jared Frieder
  • The First Lady (2022) – directed by Susanne Bier – miniseries
  • Mother, Couch (2023) – directed by Niclas Larsson
  • The Exorcist: Believer (2023) – directed by David Gordon Green