Ellen Burstyn on screen and stage explained

Ellen Burstyn is an American actress of film, television and stage.

She is known for her film performances in Peter Bogdanovich's The Last Picture Show (1971), William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973), Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), and Requiem for a Dream (2000). She also has appeared in such films as Harry and Tonto (1974), Same Time, Next Year (1978), and Resurrection (1980).

She is also known for her performances in television such as Big Love (2007–2011), Political Animals (2012), Louie (2014), and House of Cards (2016).

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Goodbye Charlie	Frannie Salzman	Credited as Ellen McRae
1964	For Those Who Think Young	Dr. Pauline Thayer
1969	Pit Stop (original title: The Winner)	Ellen McLeod
1970	Alex in Wonderland	Beth Morrison
1970	Tropic of Cancer	Mona Miller
1971		Lois Farrow
1972		Sally
1973		Chris MacNeil
1974	Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore	Alice Hyatt
1974	Harry and Tonto	Shirley Mallard
1977	Providence	Sonia Langham
1978		Brenda
1978	Same Time, Next Year	Doris
1980	Resurrection	Edna Mae McCauley
1981	Silence of the North	Olive Frederickson
1984		Alex Hacker
1984	Terror in the Aisles		Archival footage
1985	Twice in a Lifetime	Kate MacKenzie
1987		Mrs. Stocks (voice)
1988	Hanna's War	Katalin
1991	Grand Isle	Mademoiselle Reisz
1991	Dying Young	Mrs. O'Neil
1993		Esther Moskowitz
1994	When a Man Loves a Woman	Emily
1994	data-sort-value="Color of Evening, The"	The Color of Evening	Kate O'Reilly
1995	How to Make an American Quilt	Hy Dodd
		Emily Haberman
	Roommates	Judith
1996		Hannah Ferguson
1997	Deceiver	Mook
1998	Playing by Heart	Mildred
1998	You Can Thank Me Later	Shirley Cooperberg
1999	Walking Across Egypt	Mattie Rigsbee
2000	Requiem for a Dream	Sara Goldfarb
2000		Val Handler
2001	Dodson's Journey	Mother
2002	Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood	Viviane Joan "Vivi" Abbott Walker
2002	Red Dragon	Grandma Dolarhyde (voice only)	Uncredited
2005	Down in the Valley	Ma
2006	data-sort-value="Fountain, The"	The Fountain	Dr. Lilian Guzetti
		Sister Summersisle
		Diana Hunt
	30 Days	Maura
2007		Hagar Shipley
2008	Lovely, Still	Mary
2008	W.	Barbara Bush
2009		Swan	Voice role
	According to Greta	Katherine
	PoliWood	Herself	Documentary
	data-sort-value="Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, The"	The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond	Miss Adie
2010		Mother St. John
2010	Main Street	Georgiana Carr
2011	Another Happy Day	Doris
2011	Someday This Pain Will Be Useful to You	Nanette
2013	Wish You Well	Louisa Mae Cardinal
2014	Two Men in Town	Garnett's mother
	Draft Day	Barb Weaver
	Interstellar	Old Murph
	When Marnie Was There	Nanny	Voice
2015	data-sort-value="Age of Adaline, The"	The Age of Adaline	Flemming
	Unity	Narrator	Documentary
	About Scout	Gram
2016	Wiener-Dog	Nana
2016	Custody	Beatrice Fisher
2017	data-sort-value="House of Tomorrow, The"	The House of Tomorrow	Josephine Prendergast	Also executive producer
2017	All I Wish	Celia Berges
2018	Nostalgia	Helen Greer
2018	data-sort-value="Tale, The"	The Tale	Nettie
2019	American Woman	Miss Dolly
2019	Lucy in the Sky	Nana Holbrook
2020	Pieces of a Woman	Elizabeth Weiss
2021	Queen Bees	Helen Wilson
2022	Three Months	Valerie
2023	Mother, Couch	Mother
2023	data-sort-value="Exorcist: Believer, The"		Chris MacNeil

Source: Turner Classic Movies^[1]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1958	Kraft Television Theatre	Linda	Episode: "Trick or Treat"; credited as Ellen McRae
1961	Michael Shayne	Carol	Episode: "Strike Out"; credited as Ellen McRae^[2]
	data-sort-value="Loretta Young Show, The"	The Loretta Young Show	Ann Walters	Episode: "Woodlot"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Dr. Kildare	Anne Garner	Episode: "Second Chance"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Surfside 6	Wandra Drake	Episode: "Double Image"; credited as Ellen McRae
1961, 1963	77 Sunset Strip	Betty Benson (1961) Sandra Keene (1963)	2 episodes; credited as Ellen McRae
1961	Cheyenne	Emmy Mae	Episode: "Day's Pay"; credited as Ellen McRae
1961	data-sort-value="Dick Powell Show, The"	The Dick Powell Show	Rose Maxon	Episode: "Ricochet"; credited as Ellen McRae
1962, 1971	Gunsmoke	Polly Mims (1962) Amy Waters (1971)	3 episodes; credited as Ellen McRae (1962), credited as Ellen Burstyn (1971)
1962	Ben Casey	Dr. Leslie Fraser (ep. 1) Connie (ep. 2)	2 episodes; credited as Ellen McRae
	Bus Stop	Phyllis Dunning	Episode: "Cry to Heaven"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Checkmate	Margo	Episode: "The Bold and the Tough"; credited as Ellen McRae
	data-sort-value="Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, The"	The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis	Dr. Donna Whittaker	Episode: "A Splinter Off the Old Block"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Perry Mason	Mona Winthrope White	Episode: "The Case of the Dodging Domino"; credited as Ellen McRae
	data-sort-value="Real McCoys, The"	The Real McCoys	Dorothy Carter	Episode: "The Girl Veterinarian"; credited as Ellen McRae
	I'm Dickens, He's Fenster	Joan	Episode: "Harry, the Father Image"; credited as Ellen McRae
1963	Laramie	Amy	Episode: "No Place to Run"; credited as Ellen McRae
	data-sort-value="Defenders, The"	The Defenders	Hilda Wesley	Episode: "The Heathen"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Going My Way	Louise	Episode: "Hear No Evil"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Wagon Train	Margaret Whitlow	Episode: "The Jim Whitlow Story"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Vacation Playhouse	Ellen	Episode: "The Big Brain"; credited as Ellen McRae
1964	Suspense Theater	Barbara / Lucille	Episode: "The Deep End"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre	Eva Laurelton	Episode: "Runaway"; credited as Ellen McRae
	data-sort-value="Greatest Show on Earth, The"	The Greatest Show on Earth	Susan Mason	Episode: "Big Man from Nairobi"; credited as Ellen McRae
	Death Valley Days	Jenny	Episode: "Hastings Cut-off"; credited as Ellen McRae
1964–65	data-sort-value="Doctors, The"	The Doctors	Dr. Kate Bartok	Multiple episodes; credited as Ellen McRae
1965	For the People	Maria Haviland	Episode: "Seized, Confined and Detained"; credited as Ellen McRae
1966	data-sort-value="Time Tunnel, The"	The Time Tunnel	Dr. Eve Holland	Episode: "Crack of Doom"; credited as Ellen McRae
1967–68	Iron Horse	Julie Parsons	9 episodes; credited as Ellen McRae
1967	data-sort-value="Big Valley, The"	The Big Valley	Sister Jacob	Episode: "Days of Grace"; credited as Ellen McRae
1968	Insight	Janet	Episode: "All the Things I've Never Liked"; credited as Ellen McRae
1969	data-sort-value="Virginian, The"	The Virginian	Kate Bürden	Episode: "Last Grave at Socorro Creek"
1972	data-sort-value="Bold Ones: The Lawyers, The"		Rachel Lambert	Episode: "Lisa, I Hardly Knew You"
1974	Thursday's Game	Lynne Evers	Television movie
1981	data-sort-value="People vs. Jean Harris, The"	The People vs. Jean Harris	Jean Harris	Television movie
1985	Into Thin Air	Joan Walker	Television movie
1985		Tina Brogan
1986	Act of Vengeance	Margaret Yablonski
1986	Something in Common	Lynn Hollander
1986–87	data-sort-value="Ellen Burstyn Show, The"	The Ellen Burstyn Show	Ellen Brewer	13 episodes
1987	Look Away	Mary Todd Lincoln	Television movie
1987	Pack of Lies	Barbara Jackson	Television movie
1990	When You Remember Me	Nurse Cooder	Television movie
1991	Mrs. Lambert Remembers Love	Lillian "Lil" Lambert
1992	Taking Back My Life	Wilma
1993		Joan Delvecchio
1994	Trick of the Eye	Frances Griffin
	Getting Gotti	Jo Giaclone
	Getting Out	Arlie's Mother
1995	Follow the River	Gretel
1995	My Brother's Keeper	Helen
1996	Timepiece	Maud Gannon
1996	Our Son, the Matchmaker	Iva Mae Longwell
1997	Flash	Laura Strong
1997	data-sort-value="Deadly Vision, A"	A Deadly Vision		Yvette Watson
1998	data-sort-value="Will of Their Own, A"	A Will of Their Own	Veronica Steward	Mini-series
1998		June Clatterbuck	Television movie
1999	Night Ride Home	Maggie	Television movie
2000	Mermaid	Trish Gill	Television movie
2000–02	That's Life	Dolly DeLucca	34 episodes
2001	Within These Walls	Joan Thomas	Television movie
2003	Brush with Fate	Rika
2004		Ruby
2004	data-sort-value="Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel, The"	The Madam's Family: The Truth About the Canal Street Brothel		Tommie
2005	Our Fathers	Mary Ryan
2005	Mrs. Harris	Ex-lover No. 3 Former Tarnower "Steady"	Television movie
2006	data-sort-value="Book of Daniel, The"	The Book of Daniel	Bishop Beatrice Congreve	8 episodes
2007	For One More Day	Pauline Benetto	Television movie
2007–11	Big Love	Nancy Davis Dutton	6 episodes
2008		Bernie Stabler	Episode: "Swing"
2012	Political Animals	Margaret Barrish	6 episodes
2012	Coma	Mrs. Emerson	2 episodes
2014	Flowers in the Attic	Olivia Foxworth	Television movie
	Petals on the Wind	Olivia Foxworth	Television movie
	Louie	Evanka	5 episodes: "Elevator" Parts 1, 2, 3, 5, 6
2015	Mom	Shirley Stabler	Episode: "Terrorists and Gingerbread"
2016	House of Cards	Elizabeth Hale	5 episodes
2021–present		Bernie Stabler	Recurring role
2022	data-sort-value="First Lady, The"	The First Lady	Sara Roosevelt^[3]	6 episodes

Theater

Year	Title	Role	Venue
1958	Fair Game	Susan Hammarlee	Longacre Theatre, Broadway
1975	Same Time, Next Year	Doris	Brooks Atkinson Theatre, Broadway
1983	84 Charing Cross Road	Helen Haniff	Nederlander Theatre, Broadway
1989	Shirley Valentine	Shirley Valentine	Booth Theatre, Broadway
1992	Shimada	Sharyn Beaumont	Broadhurst Theatre, Broadway
1995	Sacrilege	Sister Grace	Belasco Theatre, Broadway
2003	Oldest Living Confederate Widow Tells All	Lucy Marsden	Longacre Theatre, Broadway
2013	Picnic	Mrs. Helen Potts	American Airlines Theatre, Broadway
2019	33 Variations	Dr. Katherine Brandt	Comedy Theatre, Melbourne

Notes and References

Web site: Ellen Burstyn. Turner Classic Movies. February 14, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20120201150124/https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/person/25813%7C46727/Ellen-Burstyn/#overview. February 1, 2012.
"Sports Celebrities Appear in Mystery", Biddeford-Saco (Maine) Journal, March 4, 1961, p. 10.
Web site: 'The First Lady': Ellen Burstyn, Eliza Scanlen, Cailee Spaeny To Recur On Showtime Anthology Series. Deadline Hollywood. Denise. Petski. July 23, 2021. August 25, 2021.