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Ellen Burstyn

ACTOR · BORN 1932

Ellen Burstyn

Born
7 December 1932, Detroit, Michigan, USA
Known for
Requiem for a Dream (2000), The Wicker Man (2006), Pieces of a Woman (2020), Interstellar (2014)

17 archived facts 6 topics 1 source Last reviewed Nov 2026

Ellen Burstyn (born 7 December 1932) is an actor best known for Requiem for a Dream, The Wicker Man and Pieces of a Woman.

17 Interesting Facts About Ellen Burstyn

Interesting Facts (2)

  1. #001

    Says she is often mistaken for fellow actress Louise Fletcher. People tell her she was great in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) (for which Fletcher won an Oscar). Fletcher reports being told frequently that she did a wonderful job in one of Burstyn's roles.

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  2. #002

    Suffered a permanent spinal injury while filming The Exorcist (1973). In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain, which was kept in the final version of the released film.

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Production Story (1)

  1. #003

    Turned down the lead role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) because she had a sick husband to care for.

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Behind the Scenes (2)

  1. #004

    Suffered a permanent spinal injury while filming The Exorcist (1973). In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain, which was kept in the final version of the released film.

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  2. #005

    Wore 20- and 40-pound fat suits and prosthetic necks to play Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream (2000).

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Characters & Cast (1)

  1. #006

    Burstyn plays two unusual roles where she becomes older than her parents. First, as Murph in Interstellar (2014), in which she was older than her father. The second, as Flemming in The Age of Adaline (2015), in which she was older than her mother.

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Career & Awards (6)

  1. #007

    Played her Academy Award nominated character from Same Time, Next Year (1978) on Broadway first and won a Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for the role in 1975. Burstyn was quoted in the book "On Women Turning 50" that she did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony the year she won as she felt she could not handle the pressure and attention if she won. After attending several later Oscar ceremonies at which she lost, she later regretted not being there to accept her award. Martin Scorsese, the director of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), accepted on her behalf.

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  2. #008

    Received the National Board of Review's Career Achievement Award in December 2000 at Tavern on the Green.

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  3. #009

    She wrote to the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences to protest Liv Ullmann's elimination from Oscar contention in 1974 for her performance in Scenes from a Marriage (1973) (aka "Scenes from a Marriage"). AMPAS used a rule under which TV presentations must have appeared in movie theaters in the same year, to prevent Ullmann from being nominated. The result is that Burstyn won the Oscar for her performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974).

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  4. #010

    The character of Jean Harris seems to be a favorite for Burstyn. She was Emmy-nominated for the lead role as Jean Harris in the 1981 TV-movie, The People vs. Jean Harris (1981) and, in 2006, she was nominated as a supporting character (as an ex-lover of Jean Harris's lover) in the cable-movie based on the Harris case in Mrs. Harris (2005). Burstyn is perhaps the first actress to be nominated for a performance that is less than 1-minute long (in fact, it is approximately 15 seconds). She vied for the Emmy with fellow "Mrs. Harris" (and The Last Picture Show (1971)) co-star and Oscar-winner Cloris Leachman. Neither won.

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  5. #011

    Turned down the lead role in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975) because she had a sick husband to care for.

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  6. #012

    Played her Academy Award nominated character from Same Time, Next Year (1978) on Broadway first and won a Tony Award as Best Actress (Dramatic) for the role in 1975. Burstyn was quoted in the book "On Women Turning 50" that she did not attend the Academy Awards ceremony the year she won as she felt she could not handle the pressure and attention if she won. After attending several later Oscar ceremonies at which she lost, she later regretted not being there to accept her award. Martin Scorsese, the director of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974), accepted on her behalf.

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Life & Family (5)

  1. #013

    Went to the same high school with Della Reese.

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  2. #014

    She was known as "Edna Ray" when she first went to New York, but changed it to "Ellen McRae" when producers thought is was "too comic".

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  3. #015

    Her third (and last) husband, Neil Burstyn was a bright, talented upcoming actor and writer (The Monkees (1965)). According to Ellen, he eventually degenerated into mental illness and became schizophrenic and violent. He left her just before she became a star. When she refused his pleas to get back together, he stalked and terrorized her for many years. He committed suicide in 1978.

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  4. #016

    Underwent an illegal abortion at 5 months pregnant in 1950. The operation left her infertile.

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  5. #017

    Her third (and last) husband, Neil Burstyn was a bright, talented upcoming actor and writer (The Monkees (1965)). According to Ellen, he eventually degenerated into mental illness and became schizophrenic and violent. He left her just before she became a star. When she refused his pleas to get back together, he stalked and terrorized her for many years. He committed suicide in 1978.

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Sources & editorial notes

Reference databases

  • Wikipedia English Wikipedia article
  • IMDb IMDb name page (biography and trivia)

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