Ellen Burstyn
Encyclopedia
Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio
in 1967. Her performance in the 1971 ensemble drama The Last Picture Show
earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
nomination and consideration for major film roles. Burstyn received a second Academy Award nomination for her lead performance in The Exorcist
(1973), and won the Academy Award for Best Actress
the following year for her work in Martin Scorsese
's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
(1974). In 1975, she won a Tony Award
for her work in the Broadway production of Same Time, Next Year
, and received a Golden Globe Award
and a fourth Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1978 film version
. Burstyn has worked consistently in film, television and theatre since, receiving multiple awards and nominations along the way, including an Emmy Award
and two more Academy Award nominations for her performances in the films Resurrection
(1980) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).
, the daughter of Correine Marie (née
Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly, who was a building contractor. She has described her ancestry as "Irish, French, Pennsylvania Dutch
, a little Canadian Indian". She was raised Catholic but is now known to practice Sufism
. Her parents divorced when she was young. She would later refer to her mother as tough, violent and controlling. She left Detroit's Cass Technical High School
without graduating and also left home on December 7, 1950, the day she turned 18 years old.
in 1957 and joined Lee Strasberg
's The Actors Studio
in New York City
, New York, in 1967. In 1975, she won a Tony Award
for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
for her performance in the comedy
Same Time, Next Year
(a role she would reprise in the film version in 1978
). Until 1970, she was credited as Ellen McRae in nearly all her film and television appearances.
Burstyn received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress
in 1971 for her role in the drama film
The Last Picture Show
and for Best Actress
in 1973 for the horror film
The Exorcist
. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1974 for her performance in the drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
, directed by Martin Scorsese
. She also received Best Actress nominations in 1978 for Same Time, Next Year, in 1980 for the fantasy
-drama Resurrection
, and for the drama Requiem for a Dream in 2000.
In the early to mid 1960s, Burstyn played Dr. Kate Bartok on the NBC
television soap opera
The Doctors. She worked on several primetime
television shows of the 1960s, including guest appearances on Perry Mason
, The Virginian
, Maverick
, Wagon Train
, 77 Sunset Strip
, The Big Valley
and Gunsmoke
. She hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live
, a late-night sketch comedy
and variety show
, in 1980.
In 1977, she was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
and in 1988, she was a member of the jury for the 38th Berlin International Film Festival
.
In 1986, she had her own ABC
television situation comedy
, The Ellen Burstyn Show
costarring Megan Mullally
as her daughter and Elaine Stritch
as her mother; it was canceled after one season. From 2000 to 2002, Burstyn appeared in the CBS
television drama That's Life
. In 2006, she starred as an Episcopalian
bishop
in the controversial NBC
comedy-drama series The Book of Daniel
; although eight episodes were taped, it was canceled after four episodes.
In 2006, Burstyn appeared in the drama-romance film The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky
, with whom she worked in Requiem for a Dream. Since 2007, she has had an occasional recurring role on the HBO television drama series Big Love
, playing the mother of polygamist wife Barbara Henrickson.
She provided a supporting role as the mother of two sons in the drama-romance film
The Elephant King
. The film originally premièred at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival but did not open in U.S. theaters until October 2008.
Burstyn starred in the Broadway production of Martin Tahse's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, based upon the novel of the same title
by Allan Gurganus
. The show opened and closed on November 17, 2003. Burstyn returned to the stage from March 18 – May 4, 2008, in an Off-Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis
's The Little Flower of East Orange, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
in a co-production by LAByrinth Theater Company
and The Public Theater; Burstyn played the role of Marie Therese.
In addition to her stage work, Burstyn portrayed former First Lady
Barbara Bush
in director Oliver Stone
's biographical film
W
in 2008.
In 2009, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of the bipolar
estranged mother of Detective
Elliot Stabler
on NBC's police procedural
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
.
In 1990, she won the Sarah Siddons Award
for her work in Chicago theatre.
in the biographical television film
The People vs. Jean Harris (1981) and again for another television drama film, Pack of Lies (1987), an adaptation of the 1983 play
.
In 2006, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for a role credited as "Former Tarnower Steady" in HBO's biographical television film Mrs. Harris
. (She had played Jean Harris
in The People vs. Jean Harris).
Soon after the nominations were announced, an outcry ensued from the press and the public regarding the worthiness of the nomination due to her minor role in the film, consisting of 14 seconds of screen time and 38 words of dialogue. One explanation for the nomination was that people were honoring Burstyn for her nominated but non-winning performance from the first Harris television film. A more popular accusation was that the nominating committee was either confused in their recollection, or merely "threw in" her name from sheer recognition, assuming a worthy performance without actually seeing it.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the administrator of the Primetime Emmy Awards, initially insisted that "based on the popular vote, this is a legitimate nomination". Meanwhile, HBO deflected the blame for submitting the nomination to the movie-production company. Burstyn's own reaction ranged from initial silence to comments such as, "I thought it was fabulous. My next ambition is to get nominated for seven seconds, and ultimately I want to be nominated for a picture in which I don't even appear," and "This doesn't have anything to do with me. I don't even want to know about this. You people work it out yourself."
Ultimately, Kelly Macdonald
, who starred in The Girl in the Cafe
, won the award.
In March 2007, the Academy officially announced that eligibility for a Primetime Emmy Award in any long-form supporting-actor category required nominees to appear on-screen in at least five percent of the project.
Many critics still cite this incident to criticize the Emmy Award nomination process, claiming that name recognition has played an increasingly visible role over the years.
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
from jail.
In 1981, Burstyn recorded "The Ballad of the Nazi Soldier's Wife" (Kurt Weill
's musical setting of Bertolt Brecht
's text "Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?")('And what did the soldier's woman get?') for Ben Bagley
's album Kurt Weill Revisited, Vol. 2.
Burstyn served as president of the Actors' Equity Association
from 1982 to 1985.
In 1997, Burstyn was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
. In 2000, she was named co-president of The Actors Studio, alongside Al Pacino
and Harvey Keitel
.
a boy named Jefferson in 1962; the couple was divorced the same year.
In 1964, she married fellow actor Neil Burstyn, but the union was turbulent. Neil Burstyn was schizophrenic
; he would have episodes of violence, and eventually left her. He attempted to come back to her, but she rejected him, ultimately divorcing him in 1972. In her autobiography
, Lessons in Becoming Myself, Burstyn revealed that he stalked
her over a period of six years after she divorced him. He eventually broke into her house and rape
d her, but no charges were filed, as spousal rape
was not yet legally a crime. He committed suicide
in 1978, upon which his parents sent Burstyn a telegram stating "Congratulations, you've won another Oscar; Neil killed himself".
Burstyn affiliates herself to all religious faiths as she explains: "I am a spirit opening to the truth that lives in all of these religions”.
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
in 1967. Her performance in the 1971 ensemble drama The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
earned her an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
nomination and consideration for major film roles. Burstyn received a second Academy Award nomination for her lead performance in The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
(1973), and won the Academy Award for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
the following year for her work in Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris...
(1974). In 1975, she won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for her work in the Broadway production of Same Time, Next Year
Same Time, Next Year
Same Time, Next Year is 1975 comedy play by Bernard Slade. The plot focuses on two people, married to others, who meet for a romantic tryst once a year for two dozen years.-Plot:...
, and received a Golden Globe Award
Golden Globe Award
The Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
and a fourth Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1978 film version
Same Time, Next Year (film)
Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
. Burstyn has worked consistently in film, television and theatre since, receiving multiple awards and nominations along the way, including an Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
and two more Academy Award nominations for her performances in the films Resurrection
Resurrection (1980 film)
Resurrection is a 1980 film which tells the story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people...
(1980) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).
Early life
Burstyn was born Edna Rae Gillooly in Detroit, MichiganDetroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, the daughter of Correine Marie (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly, who was a building contractor. She has described her ancestry as "Irish, French, Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch
Pennsylvania Dutch refers to immigrants and their descendants from southwestern Germany and Switzerland who settled in Pennsylvania in the 17th and 18th centuries...
, a little Canadian Indian". She was raised Catholic but is now known to practice Sufism
Sufism
Sufism or ' is defined by its adherents as the inner, mystical dimension of Islam. A practitioner of this tradition is generally known as a '...
. Her parents divorced when she was young. She would later refer to her mother as tough, violent and controlling. She left Detroit's Cass Technical High School
Cass Technical High School
The Cass Tech Technicians football team is a high school football program in Division 1 Public School League, representing the prestigious Cass Technical High School in Detroit, MI. Cass Tech High School has long been recognized nationwide for its extraordinary football program dating back to its...
without graduating and also left home on December 7, 1950, the day she turned 18 years old.
Career
Burstyn debuted on BroadwayBroadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
in 1957 and joined Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg
Lee Strasberg was an American actor, director and acting teacher. He cofounded, with directors Harold Clurman and Cheryl Crawford, the Group Theatre in 1931, which was hailed as "America's first true theatrical collective"...
's The Actors Studio
Actors Studio
The Actors Studio is a membership organization for professional actors, theatre directors and playwrights at 432 West 44th Street in the Clinton neighborhood of Manhattan in New York City. It was founded October 5, 1947, by Elia Kazan, Cheryl Crawford, Robert Lewis and Anna Sokolow who provided...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, New York, in 1967. In 1975, she won a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play
This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play. The award has been presented since 1947, and is for performance in new productions or revivals.-1940s:...
for her performance in the comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
Same Time, Next Year
Same Time, Next Year
Same Time, Next Year is 1975 comedy play by Bernard Slade. The plot focuses on two people, married to others, who meet for a romantic tryst once a year for two dozen years.-Plot:...
(a role she would reprise in the film version in 1978
Same Time, Next Year (film)
Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:...
). Until 1970, she was credited as Ellen McRae in nearly all her film and television appearances.
Burstyn received Academy Award nominations for Best Supporting Actress
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
in 1971 for her role in the drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show
The Last Picture Show is a 1971 American drama film directed by Peter Bogdanovich, adapted from a semi-autobiographical 1966 novel of the same name by Larry McMurtry....
and for Best Actress
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
in 1973 for the horror film
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
The Exorcist
The Exorcist (film)
The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty and based on the exorcism case of Robbie Mannheim, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her...
. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1974 for her performance in the drama Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris...
, directed by Martin Scorsese
Martin Scorsese
Martin Charles Scorsese is an American film director, screenwriter, producer, actor, and film historian. In 1990 he founded The Film Foundation, a nonprofit organization dedicated to film preservation, and in 2007 he founded the World Cinema Foundation...
. She also received Best Actress nominations in 1978 for Same Time, Next Year, in 1980 for the fantasy
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
-drama Resurrection
Resurrection (1980 film)
Resurrection is a 1980 film which tells the story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people...
, and for the drama Requiem for a Dream in 2000.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
The Doctors. She worked on several primetime
Prime time
Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast programming during the middle of the evening for television programing.The term prime time is often defined in terms of a fixed time period—for example, from 19:00 to 22:00 or 20:00 to 23:00 Prime time or primetime is the block of broadcast...
television shows of the 1960s, including guest appearances on Perry Mason
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
, The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
, Maverick
Maverick (TV series)
Maverick is a western television series with comedic overtones created by Roy Huggins. The show ran from September 22, 1957 to July 8, 1962 on ABC and stars James Garner as Bret Maverick, a cagey, articulate cardsharp. Eight episodes into the first season, he was joined by Jack Kelly as his brother...
, Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, 77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip
77 Sunset Strip is an hour-length American television private detective series created by Roy Huggins and starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr., Roger Smith, and Edd Byrnes....
, The Big Valley
The Big Valley
The Big Valley is an American television Western which ran on ABC from September 15, 1965, to May 19, 1969, which starred Barbara Stanwyck, as a California widowed mother. It was created by A.I. Bezzerides and Louis F. Edelman...
and Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
. She hosted NBC's Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
, a late-night sketch comedy
Sketch comedy
A sketch comedy consists of a series of short comedy scenes or vignettes, called "sketches," commonly between one and ten minutes long. Such sketches are performed by a group of comic actors or comedians, either on stage or through an audio and/or visual medium such as broadcasting...
and variety show
Variety show
A variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is an entertainment made up of a variety of acts, especially musical performances and sketch comedy, and normally introduced by a compère or host. Other types of acts include magic, animal and circus acts, acrobatics, juggling...
, in 1980.
In 1977, she was a member of the jury at the 27th Berlin International Film Festival
27th Berlin International Film Festival
The 27th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from June 24 to July 5, 1977.-Jury:* Senta Berger * Ellen Burstyn* Helène Vager* Rainer Werner Fassbinder* Derek Malcolm* Andrej Michaolkow-Kontschalowski* Ousmane Sembène...
and in 1988, she was a member of the jury for the 38th Berlin International Film Festival
38th Berlin International Film Festival
The 38th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from February 12 to 23, 1988.-Jury:* Guglielmo Biraghi * Ellen Burstyn* Heiner Carow* Eberhard Junkersdorf* Tom Luddy* Heinz Rathsack* Daniel Schmid* Andrei Smirnov...
.
In 1986, she had her own ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television situation comedy
Situation comedy
A situation comedy, often shortened to sitcom, is a genre of comedy that features characters sharing the same common environment, such as a home or workplace, accompanied with jokes as part of the dialogue...
, The Ellen Burstyn Show
The Ellen Burstyn Show
The Ellen Burstyn Show is an American sitcom starring Ellen Burstyn. The series was produced by Touchstone Television and debuted on ABC on September 20, 1986 The series was canceled after 13 episodes.-Synopsis:...
costarring Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally
Megan Mullally is an American actress and singer.After working in the theatre in Chicago, Mullally moved to Los Angeles in 1985 and began to appear in supporting roles in film and television productions. She made her Broadway debut in Grease in 1994 and she has since appeared in several Broadway...
as her daughter and Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
as her mother; it was canceled after one season. From 2000 to 2002, Burstyn appeared in the CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
television drama That's Life
That's Life (2000 TV series)
That's Life is an American dramedy series created by Diane Ruggiero, that was broadcast on CBS from October 1, 2000 to January 26, 2002.-Synopsis:...
. In 2006, she starred as an Episcopalian
Episcopal Church (United States)
The Episcopal Church is a mainline Anglican Christian church found mainly in the United States , but also in Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
in the controversial NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
comedy-drama series The Book of Daniel
The Book of Daniel (TV series)
The Book of Daniel is a television series broadcast on NBC. The network promoted it as a serious drama about Christians and the Christian faith, but it was controversial with some Christians. The show had been proposed for NBC's 2005 fall line-up, but was rescheduled as a 2006 midseason replacement...
; although eight episodes were taped, it was canceled after four episodes.
In 2006, Burstyn appeared in the drama-romance film The Fountain, directed by Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky
Darren Aronofsky is an American film director, screenwriter and film producer. He attended Harvard University to study film theory and the American Film Institute to study both live-action and animation filmmaking...
, with whom she worked in Requiem for a Dream. Since 2007, she has had an occasional recurring role on the HBO television drama series Big Love
Big Love
Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy...
, playing the mother of polygamist wife Barbara Henrickson.
She provided a supporting role as the mother of two sons in the drama-romance film
Romance film
Romance films are love stories that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate involvement of the main characters and the journey that their love takes through courtship or marriage. Romance films make the love story or the search for love the main plot focus...
The Elephant King
The Elephant King
The Elephant King is a 2008 drama-romance film directed by Seth Grossman....
. The film originally premièred at the 2006 Tribeca Film Festival but did not open in U.S. theaters until October 2008.
Burstyn starred in the Broadway production of Martin Tahse's Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All, based upon the novel of the same title
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All
Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All is a 1989 first novel by Allan Gurganus which was on the New York Times Best Seller list for eight months. It won the Sue Kaufman Prize from The American Academy of Arts and Letters, was a main selection of the Book-of-the-Month Club, and sold over four...
by Allan Gurganus
Allan Gurganus
Allan Gurganus is an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist whose work is often influenced by and set in his native North Carolina. His writing has been compared to the work of William Faulkner and Eudora Welty, who also were identified with the American South.-Biography: Gurganus was...
. The show opened and closed on November 17, 2003. Burstyn returned to the stage from March 18 – May 4, 2008, in an Off-Broadway production of Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis
Stephen Adly Guirgis is an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. He is a member and co-artistic director of New York City's LAByrinth Theater Company. His plays have been produced on five continents and throughout the United States....
's The Little Flower of East Orange, directed by Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman
Philip Seymour Hoffman is an American actor and director. Hoffman began acting in television in 1991, and the following year started to appear in films...
in a co-production by LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company
LAByrinth Theater Company is a non-profit, Off-Broadway theater company based in New York City.An inclusive, multicultural ensemble of almost 100 established and emerging theater artists led by Artistic Directors Stephen Adly Guirgis, Mimi O'Donnell and Yul Vasquez, LAByrinth Theater Company...
and The Public Theater; Burstyn played the role of Marie Therese.
In addition to her stage work, Burstyn portrayed former First Lady
First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the president of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president. The current first lady is Michelle Obama.-Current:The...
Barbara Bush
Barbara Bush
Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush...
in director Oliver Stone
Oliver Stone
William Oliver Stone is an American film director, producer and screenwriter. Stone became well known in the late 1980s and the early 1990s for directing a series of films about the Vietnam War, for which he had previously participated as an infantry soldier. His work frequently focuses on...
's biographical film
Biographical film
A biographical film, or biopic , is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people. They differ from films “based on a true story” or “historical films” in that they attempt to comprehensively tell a person’s life story or at least the most historically important years of their...
W
W. (film)
W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott...
in 2008.
In 2009, she won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series for her portrayal of the bipolar
Bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder or bipolar affective disorder, historically known as manic–depressive disorder, is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a category of mood disorders defined by the presence of one or more episodes of abnormally elevated energy levels, cognition, and mood with or without one or...
estranged mother of Detective
Detective
A detective is an investigator, either a member of a police agency or a private person. The latter may be known as private investigators or "private eyes"...
Elliot Stabler
Elliot Stabler
Det. Elliot "El" Stabler is a fictional character on the TV crime drama series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, portrayed by Christopher Meloni. He was the partner of Olivia Benson before retiring, following a shooting.-Character overview:...
on NBC's police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced...
.
In 1990, she won the Sarah Siddons Award
Sarah Siddons Award
The Sarah Siddons Society is an American non-profit organization founded in 1952 by prominent Chicago theatre patrons with the goal of promoting excellence in the theatre. The Society presents the Sarah Siddons Award annually to an actor for an outstanding performance in a Chicago theatre production...
for her work in Chicago theatre.
Emmy Awards and controversy
Burstyn was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or Movie, for her role as Jean HarrisJean Harris
Jean Harris was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia who made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high-profile murder case of her lover Dr...
in the biographical television film
Television movie
A television film is a feature film that is a television program produced for and originally distributed by a television network, in contrast to...
The People vs. Jean Harris (1981) and again for another television drama film, Pack of Lies (1987), an adaptation of the 1983 play
Pack of Lies
Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore.Based on a true story, the plot centres on Bob and Barbara Jackson and their teenage daughter Julie The Jacksons are friendly with their neighbours, Peter and Helen Kroger, until the couple is...
.
In 2006, she was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie for a role credited as "Former Tarnower Steady" in HBO's biographical television film Mrs. Harris
Mrs. Harris (film)
Mrs. Harris is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Phyllis Nagy. The teleplay, based on the book Very Much a Lady by Shana Alexander, focuses on the tempestuous relationship between Herman Tarnower, noted cardiologist and author of the New York Times bestseller The Complete Scarsdale...
. (She had played Jean Harris
Jean Harris
Jean Harris was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia who made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high-profile murder case of her lover Dr...
in The People vs. Jean Harris).
Soon after the nominations were announced, an outcry ensued from the press and the public regarding the worthiness of the nomination due to her minor role in the film, consisting of 14 seconds of screen time and 38 words of dialogue. One explanation for the nomination was that people were honoring Burstyn for her nominated but non-winning performance from the first Harris television film. A more popular accusation was that the nominating committee was either confused in their recollection, or merely "threw in" her name from sheer recognition, assuming a worthy performance without actually seeing it.
The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences, the administrator of the Primetime Emmy Awards, initially insisted that "based on the popular vote, this is a legitimate nomination". Meanwhile, HBO deflected the blame for submitting the nomination to the movie-production company. Burstyn's own reaction ranged from initial silence to comments such as, "I thought it was fabulous. My next ambition is to get nominated for seven seconds, and ultimately I want to be nominated for a picture in which I don't even appear," and "This doesn't have anything to do with me. I don't even want to know about this. You people work it out yourself."
Ultimately, Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald
Kelly Macdonald is a Scottish actress, known for her role in the independent film Trainspotting and mainstream releases such as Nanny McPhee, Gosford Park, Intermission, No Country for Old Men and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2...
, who starred in The Girl in the Cafe
The Girl in the Café
The Girl in the Café is a British made-for-television drama film directed by David Yates, written by Richard Curtis and produced by Hilary Bevan Jones. The film is produced by the independent production company Tightrope Pictures and was originally screened on BBC One in the United Kingdom on 25...
, won the award.
In March 2007, the Academy officially announced that eligibility for a Primetime Emmy Award in any long-form supporting-actor category required nominees to appear on-screen in at least five percent of the project.
Many critics still cite this incident to criticize the Emmy Award nomination process, claiming that name recognition has played an increasingly visible role over the years.
Other activities
During the 1970s, Burstyn was active in the movement to free convicted boxerBoxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter
Rubin Carter
Rubin "Hurricane" Carter fought professionally as a middleweight boxer from 1961 to 1966. In 1966, he was arrested for a triple homicide in the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey...
from jail.
In 1981, Burstyn recorded "The Ballad of the Nazi Soldier's Wife" (Kurt Weill
Kurt Weill
Kurt Julian Weill was a German-Jewish composer, active from the 1920s, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for his fruitful collaborations with Bertolt Brecht...
's musical setting of Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht
Bertolt Brecht was a German poet, playwright, and theatre director.An influential theatre practitioner of the 20th century, Brecht made equally significant contributions to dramaturgy and theatrical production, the latter particularly through the seismic impact of the tours undertaken by the...
's text "Und was bekam des Soldaten Weib?")('And what did the soldier's woman get?') for Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley
Ben Bagley was an American musical theatre and record producer.-Career:Born in Burlington, Vermont, Bagley moved to New York City during the early 1950s, and in 1955, at age 22, he produced his first hit, Shoestring Revue, starring Beatrice Arthur and Chita Rivera , and with songs by Charles...
's album Kurt Weill Revisited, Vol. 2.
Burstyn served as president of the Actors' Equity Association
Actors' Equity Association
The Actors' Equity Association , commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing the world of live theatrical performance, as opposed to film and television performance. However, performers appearing on live stage productions without a book or...
from 1982 to 1985.
In 1997, Burstyn was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
Michigan Women's Hall of Fame
The Michigan Women's Hall of Fame honors distinguished women, both historical and contemporary, who have been associated with the U.S. state of Michigan. It is housed in the Michigan Women's Historical Center and Hall of Fame building, located at 213 W. Malcolm X St. in downtown Lansing, Michigan...
. In 2000, she was named co-president of The Actors Studio, alongside Al Pacino
Al Pacino
Alfredo James "Al" Pacino is an American film and stage actor and director. He is famous for playing mobsters, including Michael Corleone in The Godfather trilogy, Tony Montana in Scarface, Alphonse "Big Boy" Caprice in Dick Tracy and Carlito Brigante in Carlito's Way, though he has also appeared...
and Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel
Harvey Keitel is an American actor. Some of his most notable starring roles were in Martin Scorsese's Mean Streets and Taxi Driver, Ridley Scott's The Duellists and Thelma and Louise, Ettore Scola's That Night in Varennes, Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Jane Campion's The...
.
Personal life
In 1950, she married Bill Alexander, but they were divorced in 1957. The following year, she married Paul Roberts, with whom she adoptedAdoption
Adoption is a process whereby a person assumes the parenting for another and, in so doing, permanently transfers all rights and responsibilities from the original parent or parents...
a boy named Jefferson in 1962; the couple was divorced the same year.
In 1964, she married fellow actor Neil Burstyn, but the union was turbulent. Neil Burstyn was schizophrenic
Schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...
; he would have episodes of violence, and eventually left her. He attempted to come back to her, but she rejected him, ultimately divorcing him in 1972. In her autobiography
Autobiography
An autobiography is a book about the life of a person, written by that person.-Origin of the term:...
, Lessons in Becoming Myself, Burstyn revealed that he stalked
Stalking
Stalking is a term commonly used to refer to unwanted and obsessive attention by an individual or group to another person. Stalking behaviors are related to harassment and intimidation and may include following the victim in person and/or monitoring them via the internet...
her over a period of six years after she divorced him. He eventually broke into her house and rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
d her, but no charges were filed, as spousal rape
Spousal rape
Marital rape, also known as spousal rape, is non-consensual sex in which the perpetrator is the victim's spouse. As such, it as a form of partner rape, of domestic violence, and of sexual abuse. Once widely condoned or ignored by law, spousal rape is now repudiated by international conventions and...
was not yet legally a crime. He committed suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
in 1978, upon which his parents sent Burstyn a telegram stating "Congratulations, you've won another Oscar; Neil killed himself".
Burstyn affiliates herself to all religious faiths as she explains: "I am a spirit opening to the truth that lives in all of these religions”.
Filmography
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1963 | Television series | ||
| 1964 | Goodbye Charlie Goodbye Charlie Goodbye Charlie is a 1964 comedy film about a callous womanizer who gets his just reward. It was adapted from George Axelrod's play Goodbye, Charlie and starred Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis... |
Franzie Salzman | |
| 1964 | For Those Who Think Young For Those Who Think Young (film) For Those Who Think Young is a 1964 beach party film directed by Leslie H. Martinson and featuring James Darren, Pamela Tiffin, Paul Lynde, Tina Louise, Bob Denver, Robert Middleton, and Woody Woodbury.-Plot:... |
Dr. Pauline Thayer | |
| 1969 | Kate Burden (as Ellen MacRae) | Television series, season 7, episode 16: "Last Grave at Socorro Creek" | |
| 1969 | Ellen McLeod | ||
| 1970 | Alex in Wonderland Alex in Wonderland Alex in Wonderland is a 1970 feature-length film directed by Paul Mazursky, written with his partner Larry Tucker and starring Donald Sutherland and Ellen Burstyn. Sutherland plays Alex Morrison, a director who has made one feature and spends his time in Hollywood pondering what his next will be... |
Beth Morrison | |
| 1970 | Tropic of Cancer | Mona Miller | |
| 1971 | Lois Farrow | National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress The National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actress is one of the annual awards given by the National Society of Film Critics.This awards was given for the first time in 1967 to Marjorie Rhodes for her role in The Family Way.... New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress The New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Supporting Actress is an award given by the New York Film Critics Circle, honoring the finest achievements in filmmaking.... Nominated — Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture |
|
| 1972 | Sally | ||
| 1973 | Chris MacNeil | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
|
| 1974 | Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore is a 1974 American drama film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Robert Getchell. It stars Ellen Burstyn as a widow who travels with her preteen son across the American Southwest in search of a better life, along with Alfred Lutter as her son and Kris... |
Alice Hyatt | Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role Best Actress in a Leading Role is a British Academy Film award presented annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts to recognise an actress who has delivered an outstanding leading performance in a film.- Winners and nominees :... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama |
| 1974 | Harry and Tonto Harry and Tonto Harry and Tonto is a 1974 road movie written by Paul Mazursky and Josh Greenfeld and directed by Mazursky, starring Art Carney.-Synopsis:... |
Shirley Mallard | |
| 1974 | Thursday's Game Thursday's Game Thursday's Game is a television movie comedy written by James L. Brooks and directed by Robert Moore. Though filmed in 1971, it first aired in 1974 as an ABC Movie of the Week.... |
Lynne Evers | television film |
| 1977 | Providence Providence (1977 film) Providence is a French/Swiss 1977 film directed by Alain Resnais and starring Dirk Bogarde, David Warner, Ellen Burstyn, Elaine Stritch, and John Gielgud. The film won the 1978 César Award for Best Film.-Plot summary:... |
Sonia Langham | |
| 1978 | Brenda | ||
| 1978 | Same Time, Next Year Same Time, Next Year (film) Same Time, Next Year is a 1978 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by Robert Mulligan. The screenplay by Bernard Slade is based on his 1975 play of the same title.-Plot synopsis:... |
Doris | Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — American Movie Award American Movie Awards The American Movie Awards were awards to honour excellence in film, there were only two ceremonies, one in 1980, and one in 1982.-1980:*Best Film: Rocky II*Best Actor: Alan Alda *Best Actress: Sally Field... for Best Actress |
| 1980 | Resurrection Resurrection (1980 film) Resurrection is a 1980 film which tells the story of a woman who survives the car accident which kills her husband, but discovers that she has the power to heal other people... |
Edna Mae McCauley | Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress |
| 1981 | Silence of the North Silence of the North Silence of the North is a 1981 Canadian film starring Tom Skerritt, Gordon Pinsent, and Ellen Burstyn. The three main actors were nominated for Genie Awards, as was the director, Allan King.... |
Olive Frederickson | Nominated — Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress The Genie Award for Best Performance by a Foreign Actress was awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television from 1980 to 1983, for the best performance by non-Canadian actress in a Canadian film.... |
| 1981 | Jean Harris Jean Harris Jean Harris was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia who made national news in 1980 as the defendant in a high-profile murder case of her lover Dr... |
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film |
|
| 1984 | Alex Hacker | ||
| 1984 | Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles Terror in the Aisles is a 1984 documentary film about horror films featuring clips from Friday the 13th I and/or II, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, Halloween I and II, Jaws 1 and 2, Alien, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Shining and Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho and The Birds. The film is hosted by... |
archival footage | |
| 1985 | Into Thin Air | Joan Walker | Television film |
| 1985 | Twice in a Lifetime Twice in a Lifetime (1985 film) Twice in a Lifetime is a 1985 film starring Gene Hackman and directed by Bud Yorkin. The plot involves a steelworker and married man going through a mid-life crisis when he finds himself attracted to another woman, played by Ann-Margret.... |
Kate MacKenzie | |
| 1985 | Surviving: A Family in Crisis Surviving: A Family in Crisis Surviving: A Family in Crisis is a 1985 ABC television movie starring Zach Galligan, Molly Ringwald, and River Phoenix... |
Tina Brogan | Television film |
| 1986 | Ellen Brewer | Television series | |
| 1986 | Act of Vengeance Act of Vengeance Act of Vengeance is a 1986 television movie starring Charles Bronson, Ellen Burstyn, and Keanu Reeves.-Overview:The movie is based on the book by Trevor Armbrister, Act of Vengeance. It was premiered on April 20, 1986... |
Margaret Yablonski | Television film |
| 1986 | Something in Common | Lynn Hollander | Television film |
| 1987 | Look Away Look Away "Look Away" is the name of a 1989 #1 Billboard Hot 100 Chart hit written by Diane Warren. It was recorded by the band Chicago for their 1988 album Chicago 19, with Bill Champlin singing lead vocals. When released as a single that year, the song proved successful, topping the Billboard Hot 100 for... |
Mary Todd Lincoln | television film |
| 1987 | Pack of Lies Pack of Lies Pack of Lies is a 1983 play by English writer Hugh Whitemore.Based on a true story, the plot centres on Bob and Barbara Jackson and their teenage daughter Julie The Jacksons are friendly with their neighbours, Peter and Helen Kroger, until the couple is... |
Barbara Jackson | Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 1988 | Hanna's War Hanna's War Hanna's War is a 1988 film co-written and directed by Menahem Golan. The film is based on The Diaries Of Hanna Senesh and the biographical novel A Great Wind Cometh by Yoel Palgi. It is a biopic detailing the true story of Hannah Szenes.-Plot:... |
Katalin | |
| 1990 | When You Remember Me When You Remember Me When You Remember Me is a 1990 fact-based television movie based on the story of Mike Mills, a teen with muscular dystrophy, who is placed in a state nursing home by his destitute single mother... |
Nurse Cooder | television film |
| 1991 | Grand Isle Grand Isle (film) Grand Isle is a 1991 film directed by Mary Lambert. It is based on the early feminist novel The Awakening by Kate Chopin, first published in 1899. It starred Kelly McGillis as Edna Pontellier, Jon DeVries as Léonce Pontellier and Adrian Pasdar as Robert Lebrun.... |
Mademoiselle Reisz | |
| 1991 | Dying Young Dying Young Dying Young is a 1991 American romance film, directed by Joel Schumacher. It is based on a novel of the same name by Marti Leimbach, and stars Julia Roberts and Campbell Scott with Vincent D'Onofrio, Colleen Dewhurst and Ellen Burstyn... |
Mrs. O'Neil | |
| 1991 | Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love | Lillian "Lil" Lambert | television film |
| 1992 | Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story | Wilma | Television film |
| 1993 | Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story is a 1993 television film directed by Bill Corcoran. The film, which is based upon a true story, garnered generally positive reviews... |
Joan Delvecchio | Television film |
| 1993 | Esther Moskowitz | ||
| 1994 | Trick of the Eye | Frances Griffin | Television film |
| 1994 | Getting Gotti Getting Gotti Getting Gotti is a 1994 TV film centered on a Brooklyn Assistant District Attorney named Diane Giacalone, and her attempts to build a Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act case against John Gotti and the Gambino crime family. It was shot in Toronto, Ontario.-Cast:The movie starred... |
Jo Giaclone | Television film |
| 1994 | When a Man Loves a Woman When a Man Loves a Woman (film) When a Man Loves a Woman is a 1994 American romantic drama film written by Al Franken and Ronald Bass, starring Andy García, Meg Ryan, Tina Majorino, Mae Whitman, Ellen Burstyn, Lauren Tom and Philip Seymour Hoffman.... |
Emily | |
| 1994 | Getting Out Getting Out Getting Out is a play by Marsha Norman.-Production history:Getting Out was presented by Lester Osterman, Lucille Lortel, and Marc Howard at the Theatre de Lys in New York City, on 15 May 1979. The cast was as follows:*Arlene - Susan Kingsley... |
Arlie's Mother | Television film |
| 1994 | Kate O'Reilly | ||
| 1995 | How to Make an American Quilt How to Make an American Quilt How to Make an American Quilt is a 1995 movie which was directed by Jocelyn Moorhouse and stars Winona Ryder, Maya Angelou, Ellen Burstyn and Anne Bancroft... |
Hy Dodd | Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture |
| 1995 | Emily Haberman | ||
| 1995 | Follow the River | Gretel | Television film |
| 1995 | My Brother's Keeper | Helen | Television film |
| 1995 | Roommates | Judith | |
| 1996 | Timepiece | Maud Gannon | television film |
| 1996 | Our Son, the Matchmaker Our Son, the Matchmaker Our Son, the Matchmaker is a 1996 made-for-television family film directed by Lorraine Senna, and stars Ann Jillian and David Andrews as a couple who are separated as teenagers when their illegitimate child is born and sent for adoption, but are reunited years later when their by then grown-up son... |
television film | |
| 1996 | Hannah Ferguson | ||
| 1997 | Flash Flash (1997 film) Flash is a film released in theaters which was originally shown on The Wonderful World of Disney.The film details the story of a child Conner Strong , who visits a horse every day in hopes of buying it. To do so, Conner finds work as a delivery boy to save enough money for his dream... |
Laura Strong | Television film |
| 1997 | Deceiver Deceiver (film) Deceiver, also known as Liar, or Reisser, or even BSer , is a 1997 murder mystery film. It won Best Cinematography and Best Screenplay at the 1997 Stockholm Film Festival, and the Special Jury Prize at the 1998 Cognac Police Film Festival.-Plot:Textile company heir James Wayland is accused of... |
Mook | |
| 1997 | Yvette Watson | Television film | |
| 1998 | Playing by Heart Playing by Heart Playing by Heart is a 1998 comedy-drama film, which tells the story of several seemingly unconnected characters.-Plot:Among the characters are a mature couple about to renew their vows ; a woman who accepts a date offer from a stranger ; a gay man dying of AIDS and his mother who has... |
Mildred | |
| 1998 | June Clatterbuck | Television film | |
| 1998 | You Can Thank Me Later You Can Thank Me Later You Can Thank Me Later is a 1998 Canadian comedy drama film directed by Shimon Dotan. The film is based on a play titled Hyper-Allergenic written and adapted for the screen by Oren Safdie.-Overview:... |
Shirley Cooperberg | |
| 1999 | Walking Across Egypt Walking Across Egypt Walking Across Egypt is a 1999 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by veteran director Arthur Allan Seidelman and written by Paul Tamasy, based on Clyde Edgerton's novel of the same name... |
Mattie Rigsbee | |
| 1999 | Night Ride Home | Maggie | Television film |
| 2000 | Mermaid Mermaid (film) Mermaid is a 1996 Russian animated short film directed by Aleksandr Petrov and showcasing the paint-on-glass animation technique for which Petrov is known... |
Trish Gill | Television film Nominated— Daytime Emmy Award Daytime Emmy Award The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming... for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special |
| 2000 | Requiem for a Dream | Sara Goldfarb | Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress The Boston Society of Film Critics Award for Best Actress is one of the annual film awards given by the Boston Society of Film Critics.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Chicago Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress is an annual award given by the Chicago Film Critics Association.-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:... Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The Florida Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Florida Film Critics Circle to honor the finest female lead acting achievements in filmmaking.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Independent Spirit Award for Best Lead Female Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress The Kansas City Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Kansas City Film Critics Circle to honor the best achievements in acting.-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:-References:*... Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress The Las Vegas Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Las Vegas Film Critics Society to honor the best actress of the year.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress The Online Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress is an annual film award given by the Online Film Critics Society to honor the best lead actress of the year.Reese Witherspoon and Naomi Watts have each won this award twice.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Actress The Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is an award given by the Phoenix Film Critics Society to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-2000s:-2010s:... Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama Satellite Award for Best Actress - Motion Picture Drama The Satellite Award for Best Actress in a Motion Picture Drama is one of the annual awards given by the International Press Academy.- Winners and nominees :The following listing is based on the web postings of the International Press Academy.- 1990s :... Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Actress The Southeastern Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the Southeastern Film Critics Association to honor the finest female lead acting.-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:... Stockholm International Film Festival Stockholm International Film Festival The Stockholm International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Stockholm, Sweden. It was launched in 1990 and has been held every year in the second half of November... Award for Best Actress Nominated — Academy Award for Best Actress Academy Award for Best Actress Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry... Nominated — Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress The Chlotrudis Award for Best Actress is an award given by the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film to the actress or actresses whose winning performance is voted by participating members. The Chlotrudis Awards is an annual ceremony where the best of the previous year's independent and... Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Motion Picture Drama Nominated — Saturn Award for Best Actress Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role |
| 2000 | Val Handler | ||
| 2001 | Within These Walls | Joan Thomas | Television film |
| 2001 | Dodson's Journey | Mother | |
| 2002 | Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood (film) Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood is a 2002 American comedy-drama film starring Sandra Bullock and Ashley Judd, directed and written by Callie Khouri... |
Viviane Joan 'Vivi' Abbott Walker | |
| 2002 | Red Dragon Red Dragon (film) Red Dragon is a 2002 thriller film based on Thomas Harris' novel of the same name and featuring psychiatrist and serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter. It is a prequel to The Silence of the Lambs.... |
Grandma Dolarhyde (voice only) | |
| 2003 | Brush with Fate Brush with Fate Brush with Fate was a made-for-TV film debuted on February 2, 2003, on CBS. It followed the life of an imaginary painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer as it passes through the hands of various people... |
Rika | Television film |
| 2004 | Ruby | Television film | |
| 2004 | Tommie | Television film | |
| 2005 | Mrs. Harris Mrs. Harris (film) Mrs. Harris is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Phyllis Nagy. The teleplay, based on the book Very Much a Lady by Shana Alexander, focuses on the tempestuous relationship between Herman Tarnower, noted cardiologist and author of the New York Times bestseller The Complete Scarsdale... |
Ex-lover #3 | Television film Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress – Miniseries or a Movie |
| 2005 | Down in the Valley | Ma | |
| 2005 | Our Fathers | Mary Ryan | television film |
| 2006 | Dr. Lilian Guzetti | ||
| 2006 | Sister Summersisle | ||
| 2006 | Diana Hunt | ||
| 2006 | 30 Days | Maura | |
| 2007 | Hagar Shipley | Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role The Genie Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is awarded by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to the best Canadian actress.-1st Genie Awards:* Kate Lynch, Meatballs* Louise Portal, Cordélia... |
|
| 2007 | For One More DayFor One More Day | Pauline Benetto | Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film Satellite Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film -1990s:*1996: Helen Mirren - Prime Suspect 5: Errors of Judgment**Kirstie Alley - Suddenly**Lolita Davidovich - Harvest on Fire**Laura Dern - The Siege of Ruby Ridge**Jena Malone - Hidden in America... Nominated — Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie |
| 2007–11 | Big Love Big Love Big Love is an American television drama that aired on HBO between March 2006 and March 2011. The show is about a fictional fundamentalist Mormon family in Utah that practices polygamy... |
Nancy Davis Dutton | Television series Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series |
| 2008 | Lovely, Still Lovely, Still Lovely, Still is a 2008 Christmas-themed romantic drama film starring Martin Landau and Ellen Burstyn.-Plot:Lonely Robert Malone falls in love with Mary , the mother of his neighbor Alex... |
Mary | |
| 2008 | Miss Adie | ||
| 2008 | W. W. (film) W. is a 2008 American film based on the life and presidency of George W. Bush. It was produced and directed by Oliver Stone, written by Stanley Weiser, and stars Josh Brolin as Bush, with a cast that includes Ellen Burstyn, Elizabeth Banks, James Cromwell, Thandie Newton, Jeffrey Wright, Scott... |
Barbara Bush Barbara Bush Barbara Pierce Bush is the wife of the 41st President of the United States George H. W. Bush, and served as First Lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993. She is the mother of the 43rd President George W. Bush and of the 43rd Governor of Florida Jeb Bush... |
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| 2008 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural television drama series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced... |
Bernie Stabler | Television series, episode: "Swing" Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress – Drama Series Nominated — Prism Award for Performance in a Drama Episode |
| 2009 | Swan | voice | |
| 2009 | According to Greta | Katherine | |
| 2009 | PoliWood | Herself | Documentary |
| 2010 | Mother St. John | ||
| 2010 | Main Street | Georgiana Carr | |
| 2011 | Another Happy Day Another Happy Day Another Happy Day is a 2011 American black comedy-drama film written and directed by Sam Levinson.-Plot:Lynn was married to Paul , but they split up on bad terms, and Lynn took custody of their daughter Alice while Paul got their son Dylan... |
Doris | |
| 2011 | Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You is an upcoming comedy-drama film directed by Roberto Faenza and starring Toby Regbo and Ellen Burstyn based on Peter Cameron's novel of the same name... |
Nanette | filming |
External links
- ellenburstyn.net, Ellen Burstyn official website