ELLEN BURSTYN BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Ellen Burstyn was born on December 7th, 1932 in Detroit, Michigan with the birth name Edna Rae Gillooly.  Her parents were, Correine Marie Hamel and John Austin Gillooly.  At a young age her parents marriage ended in divorce.  She attended high school at Detroit's Cass Technical High, but left before graduating and found a number of odd jobs to support herself.  At the age of eighteen, she then decided to relocate to Texas and then New York and worked as a showgirl on, "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1952) and then she moved again to Montreal and found work as a nightclub dancer.
 
It did not take long for her to begin finding work as a stage actress and she was cast in her first Broadway production, "Fair Game" (1957).  After gaining some experience as a stage actress, Burstyn then began appearing on television on such shows as, "The Doctors" (1963) and also the film, "Goodbye Charlie" (1964).
 
Burstyn then decided to perfect her raft and take acting training with Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio.  After returning to the industry she appeared on such films as, "The Last Picture Show" (1971), "The King of Marvin Gardens", "The Exorcist" (1973) and "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore" (1974).
 
For her roles in a number of these films she earned nominations for Golden Globe Awards as well as a nomination for an Academy Award, and then won an Oscar for her performance in, "Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore". 
 
Along with her film work she continued to make a number of stage performances in such Broadway productions as, "Same Time, Next Year" (1978) for which she won a Tony Award.  As her career continued in the industry she was finding it slightly more difficult to get film roles, however, she was seen on the big screen in, "Resurrection" (1980). 
 
Burstyn then turned her focus to television acting and appeared on, "The Ellen Burstyn Show" (1986).  Other television appearances throughout her career have included roles on, "Perry Mason", "The Virginian", "Maverick", "Wagon Train", "77 Sunset Strip", "The Big Valley, "Gunsmoke" and most recently, "Law & Order" and "Big Love".
 
She was also seen in the films, "The Cemetery Club" (1993), "How to Make an American Quilt" (1995), "The Baby-Sitters Club" (1995) and "The Spitfire Grill" (1996).
 
Along with acting she also served as President of the Actors Equity from 1982 through 1985.  Burstyn was inducted into the Michigan Women's Hall of Fame in 1997 and in 2001, People's magazine chose her as one of the, "50 Most Beautiful People in the World".  In 2005, she was awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Award in Acting of the Savannah Film Festival and is also an ordained minister.   
 
Throughout her lifetime she has been married three times.  Her first husband was William Alexander from 1950 through 1957.  She then married Paul Roberts in 1958 and they stayed together until 1962.  Her third time to marry was to husband, Neil Nephew in 1964 and they had one child together before this marriage also ended in divorce in 1972. 
 
Some of her most recent appearances have been on, "The Fountain" (2006), "W" (2008), "The Mighty Macs" (2009), "Main Street" (2010), "Another Happy Day" (2011), "Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You" (2011) and soon to release, "Dancehall" (2012) and "Chickadee" (2013).

 
Filmography

2013 Chickadee 
2012 Dancehall
2011 Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You
2007-2011 Big Love 
2011 Another Happy Day
2010 Main Street 
2009 The Mighty Macs
2009 According to Greta
2009 The Velveteen Rabbit
2009 Possible Side Effects
2008 W. 
2008 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 
2008 The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond
2008 Lovely, Still
2007 Oprah Winfrey Presents: Mitch Albom's For One More Day 
2007 The Stone Angel
2006 30 Days
2006 The Fountain 
2006 The Wicker Man
2006 The Elephant King
2006 The Book of Daniel
2005 Mrs. Harris
2005 Our Fathers 
2004 The Five People You Meet in Heaven
2004 The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel 
2003 Brush with Fate
2002 Red Dragon 
2002 Distance 
2002 Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood 
2000-2002 That's Life 
2001 Within These Walls 
2001 Dodson's Journey 
2000 Mermaid
2000 Requiem for a Dream 
1999 Walking Across Egypt 
1999 The Yards 
1999 You Can Thank Me Later
1999 Night Ride Home 
1998 Playing by Heart
1998 A Will of Their Own 
1998 The Patron Saint of Liars 
1997 Flash
1997 Deceiver 
1997 A Deadly Vision
1996 Timepiece
1996 Our Son, the Matchmaker
1996 The Spitfire Grill 
1996 Cross the Line 
1995 How to Make an American Quilt 
1995 The Baby-Sitters Club 
1995 Follow the River 
1995 My Brother's Keeper 
1995 Roommates
1994 Trick of the Eye
1994 Getting Gotti
1994 When a Man Loves a Woman
1994 Getting Out
1994 The Color of Evening
1993 Shattered Trust: The Shari Karney Story
1993 The Cemetery Club
1992 Taking Back My Life: The Nancy Ziegenmeyer Story
1991 Grand Isle
1991 Dying Young
1991 Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love
1990 When You Remember Me
1988 Hanna's War
1987 Look Away
1986-1987 The Ellen Burstyn Show 
1958-1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame
1986 Something in Common
1986 Act of Vengeance 
1985 Into Thin Air
1985 Twice in a Lifetime 
1985 Surviving 
1984 The Ambassador 
1981 Silence of the North 
1981 The People vs. Jean Harris 
1980 Resurrection 
1978 Same Time, Next Year 
1978 A Dream of Passion
1977 Providence 
1974 Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore 
1974 Harry and Tonto
1974 Thursday's Game 
1973 The Exorcist 
1972 The King of Marvin Gardens
1972 The Bold Ones: The Lawyers
1962-1971 Gunsmoke
1971 The Last Picture Show 
1970 Alex in Wonderland 
1970 Tropic of Cancer 
1969 Pit Stop
1969 The Virginian 
1968 Insight 
1967-1968 Iron Horse
1967 The Big Valley
1966 The Time Tunnel 
1965 For the People
1964-1965 The Doctors 
1964 Goodbye Charlie 
1964 For Those Who Think Young 
1964 The Greatest Show on Earth
1964 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre 
1964 Kraft Suspense Theatre
1963 The Big Brain
1963 Wagon Train 
1963 Going My Way
1963 The Defenders 
1961-1963 77 Sunset Strip 
1963 Laramie 
1962 The Real McCoys 
1962 Perry Mason 
1962 The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis 
1962 I'm Dickens, He's Fenster 
1962 Ben Casey
1962 Kraft Mystery Theater 
1962 Checkmate 
1962 The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor 
1962 Bus Stop 
1961 Cheyenne 
1961 Dr. Kildare 
1961 The Dick Powell Theatre 
1961 Surfside 6
1961 The Loretta Young Show 
1961 Michael Shayne 
1960 The DuPont Show of the Month 
1960 Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
1958 Kraft Theatre