Ellen Burstyn

ActorProducerDirector Dec 7 (age 93) Detroit, Michigan, USA 1944–2025 (81 year career)

6.1 avg rating

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 …

Known For

Film

Interstellar

Murph (older)

Film

Requiem for a Dream

Sara Goldfarb

Film

The Exorcist

Chris MacNeil

Film

The Age of Adaline

Flemming

Film

Red Dragon

Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)

Film

The Fountain

Dr. Lillian Guzetti

Film

The Last Picture Show

Lois Farrow

Film

Pieces of a Woman

Elizabeth Weiss

Filmography

Acting (197)

Movies (148)

Breakdown: 1975

2025

as Self

6.4

Legacy of Screams: The Evolution of Horror Movies

2025

as Self - (archive footage)

Duse, the Greatest

2025

This Ordinary Thing

2025

as Self (voice)

Martin Scorsese, the Italian-American Master

as Self

Mother, Couch

as Mother

E. Jean Carroll v. Donald J. Trump

2024

as E. Jean Carroll

4.5

Fear and Love: The Story of The Exorcist

2024

as Self

The Exorcist: Believer

as Chris MacNeil

Three Months

as Valerie

Paul Newman, Behind Blue Eyes

as Herself

Queen Bees

as Helen Wilson

Watch on the Rhine

as Fanny

Pieces of a Woman

2020

as Elizabeth Weiss

7.0

Delphine and Carole

2020

as Self (archive footage)

6.5

The House of Tomorrow

2019

as Josephine Prendergast

American Woman

as Miss Dolly

Lucy in the Sky

as Nana Holbrook

Steven Arnold: Heavenly Bodies

2019

as Self

All I Wish

as Celia Berges

The Tale

as Nettie

Nostalgia

as Helen Greer

Friedkin Uncut

as Self

Marilyn Monroe: Auction of a Lifetime

as Self

Custody

as Beatrice Fisher

Wiener-Dog

as Nana

The Age of Adaline

as Flemming

About Scout

as Gram

Unity

as Narrator (voice)

Interstellar

as Murph (older)

River of Fundament

as Hathfertiti

Petals on the Wind

as Olivia Foxworth

Flowers in the Attic

as Grandmother

Draft Day

as Barb Weaver

Two Men in Town

as Mère Garnett

The Calling

as Emily Micallef

And the Oscar Goes To...

2014

as Self - Interviewee

6.9

Wish You Well

2013

as Louisa Mae Cardinal

6.3

Love, Marilyn

2013

as Self

6.6

Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You

as Nanette

Another Happy Day

as Doris Baker

The Mighty Macs

as Mother St. John

Main Street

as Georgiana Carr

America Lost and Found: The BBS Story

2010

as Self

BBStory: An American Film Renaissance

2010

as Self

Reflections of a Philosopher King

2010

as Self

The Velveteen Rabbit

as Swan (voice)

Lovely, Still

as Mary

According to Greta

as Katherine

PoliWood

as Self

as Barbara Bush

The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond

as Miss Addie

The Stone Angel

as Hagar

Mitch Albom's For One More Day

2007

as Pauline "Posey" Benetto

3.0

Stardust: The Bette Davis Story

2006

as Self

6.7

The Fountain

2006

as Dr. Lillian Guzetti

6.9

The Wicker Man

2006

as Sister Summersisle

4.3

Mrs. Harris

2006

as Former Tarnower Steady

30 Days

as Maura

The Elephant King

as Diana Hunt

Hubert Selby Jr: It/ll Be Better Tomorrow

as Self

Our Fathers

as Mary Ryan

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore: Second Chances

2004

as Self

The Five People You Meet In Heaven

2004

as Ruby

7.0

The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel

as Tommie

Brush with Fate

as Rika

Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood

2003

as Self

7.1

A Decade Under the Influence

2003

as Self

7.9

Red Dragon

2002

as Grandma Dolarhyde (voice) (uncredited)

7.0

Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood

2002

as Vivi Abbott Walker

6.1

The Making of Requiem for a Dream

2001

as Self

4.8

Memories, Dreams & Addictions

2001

as Self

Within These Walls

as Joan Thomas

Requiem for a Dream

as Sara Goldfarb

The Yards

as Val Handler

Mermaid

as Trish

Die letzte Vorstellung: Ein Rückblick

as Self

Walking Across Egypt

as Mattie Rigsbee

Night Ride Home

as Maggie

Marilyn in Manhattan

as Self

Playing by Heart

as Mildred

The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist

1998

as Self - Chris MacNeil

7.3

You Can Thank Me Later

1998

as Shirley Cooperberg

5.1

The Patron Saint of Liars

as June Clatterbuck

Flash

as Laura Strong

A Deadly Vision

as Yvette Watson

Deceiver

as Mook

Timepiece

as Maud Gannon

The Spitfire Grill

as Hannah Ferguson

Roommates

as Judith

How to Make an American Quilt

1995

as Hy Dodd

6.4

The Baby-Sitters Club

as Mrs. Haberman

My Brother's Keeper

as Helen

Follow The River

as Gretel

When a Man Loves a Woman

as Emily

Getting Gotti

as Jo Giacalone

Getting Out

as Arlie's Mother

Trick of the Eye

as Frances Griffin

The Cemetery Club

as Esther Moskowitz

Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story

1993

as Joan Delvecchio

3.3

Roots of Roe

1993

as Narrator (voice)

Earth and the American Dream

1992

as Reader (voice)

6.7

When It Was a Game 2

1992

as Passage Narrator (voice)

9.0

Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story

1992

as Wilma

7.3

Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love

1991

as Lillian "Lil" Lambert

Dying Young

as Mrs. O'Neil

Grand Isle

as Mademoiselle Reisz

Picture This

as Self

The Color of Evening

as Kate O'Rielly

When You Remember Me

as Nurse Cooder

Broadway's Dreamers: The Legacy of the Group Theatre

1989

as Self

Hello Actors Studio

as Self

Hanna's War

as Katalin

Dear America: Letters Home from Vietnam

1987

as Mrs. Stocks (voice)

Pack of Lies

as Barbara Jackson

Something in Common

as Lynn Hollander

Act of Vengeance

as Margaret Yablonski

Surviving

as Tina Brogan

Twice in a Lifetime

as Kate MacKenzie

Night of 100 Stars II

as Self

Into Thin Air

as Joan Walker

The Ambassador

as Alex Hacker

Night of 100 Stars

as Self

I Love Liberty

as Self

People vs. Jean Harris

1981

as Jean Harris

Be Pretty and Shut Up!

1981

as Self

6.1

Silence of the North

1981

as Olive Frederickson

Resurrection

as Edna

A Dream of Passion

as Brenda Collins

Same Time, Next Year

as Doris

Providence

as Sonia Langham

The Horror Hall of Fame: A Monster Salute

1974

as Self (archive footage)

7.7

Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

as Alice Hyatt

Harry and Tonto

as Shirley Mallard

Thursday's Game

as Lynne Evers

The Exorcist

as Chris MacNeil

The King of Marvin Gardens

1972

as Sally

5.9

The Last Picture Show

as Lois Farrow

Tropic of Cancer

as Mona (uncredited)

Alex in Wonderland

as Beth Morrison

Pit Stop

as Ellen McCleod

Goodbye Charlie

as Franny Salzman

For Those Who Think Young

1964

as Dr. Pauline Swenson

5.3

Ricochet

1961

as Rose Maxon

The Christmas Tree

1958

as Elizabeth

Easy Out?

1948

as Mary

Place To Be

as Brooke

Bathing Flo

Television (49)

The First Lady

2022

as Sara Delano Roosevelt

5.8

Reframed: Marilyn Monroe

2022

as Self

7.8

Law & Order: Organized Crime

2021

as Bernadette 'Bernie' Stabler

Mom

as Shirley

House of Cards

as Elizabeth Hale

Political Animals

as Margaret Barrish

Coma

as Mrs. Emerson

Big Love

as Nancy Davis Dutton

6.9

The Book of Daniel

2006

as Bishop Beatrice Congreve

6.6

That's Life

2000

as Dolly DeLucca

7.0

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

as Bernie Stabler

A Will of their Own

as Veronica Steward

The View

as Self

HARDtalk

The Rosie O'Donnell Show

1996

as Self - Guest

3.9

Inside the Actors Studio

as Self

American Experience

as Narrator (voice)

The Ellen Burstyn Show

as Ellen Brewer

Saturday Night Live

as Self - Host

Les Rendez-vous du dimanche

as Self

Dinah!

as Self

The Time Tunnel

as Eve Holland

The Big Valley

as Sister Sarah Jacob

6.1

Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre

1963

as Eva Laurelton

5.7

Kraft Suspense Theatre

1963

as Barbara Sherwood / Lucille Benton

5.3

The Greatest Show on Earth

as Susan Mason

Vacation Playhouse

as Ellen

The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson

as Self

The Virginian

as Kate Burden

Going My Way

as Louise

I'm Dickens, He's Fenster

as Joan

Dr. Kildare

as Anne Garner

The Defenders

as Hilda Wesley

Ben Casey

as Dr. Leslie Fraser

Bus Stop

as Phyllis Dunning

Checkmate

1960

as Margo as Ellen McRae

4.1

Surfside 6

1960

as Wandra Drake

5.0

The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis

as Donna Whittaker

The Detectives

as Nora

77 Sunset Strip

as Betty Benson

Perry Mason

as Mona Winthrope White

Tony Awards

as Self - Host

Tony Awards

as Self - Winner

Cheyenne

as Emmy Mae

Gunsmoke

as Polly

The Oscars

as Self

Letter to Loretta

as Ann Walters

Hallmark Hall of Fame

as Elizabeth

Golden Globe Awards

as Self - Nominee

Crew (3)

Movies (3)

The House of Tomorrow

Executive Producer

Within These Walls

Executive Producer

Bathing Flo

Director