“Ellen’s gives a tour de force performance. She’s raw, engaging and vulnerable as she finds redemption with her least favorite son played touchingly by Dylan Baker”.
Director “The Stone Angel”
KARI SKOGLAND
Ellen Burstyn’s illustrious career encompasses film, stage, and television. In 1975, she became only the third woman in history to win both the Tony Award and the Academy Award in the same year, for her work in Bernard Slade’s “Same Time, Next Year” on Broadway and in Martin Scorsese’s “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, for which she also received a Golden Globe nomination and a British Academy Award for Best Actress. Burstyn has been nominated for an Academy Award five other times, for the films: The Last Picture Show (1971); The Exorcist (1973); “Same Time, Next Year” (1978); “Resurrection” (1980); and, most recently, in “Requiem for a Dream” (1999).
Recent film projects include Darren Aronofsky’s “The Fountain” co-starring with Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz; and Neil La Bute’s “The Wicker Man” with Nicolas Cage. Ellen’s memoirs, Lessons in Becoming Myself, were published in October 2006 by Riverhead Press.
Her many theatre credits include the 1982 Broadway production of “84 Charing Cross Road” and “Park Your Car in Harvard Yard”, in which she starred with Burgess Meredith off-Broadway. She appeared on Broadway in the acclaimed one-woman play, “Shirley Valentine”, and subsequently appeared in “Shimada” in 1992 and “Sacrilege” in 1995. In the mid-90’s, she starred in two plays written by Horton Foote: “The Trip to Bountiful” and “Death of Papa”. Most recently, she starred in Eugene O’Neill’s “Long Days Journey Into Night” at Houston’s Alley Theatre and at Hartford Stage in Connecticut.
Burstyn has worked with some of film’s most visionary directors, from Martin Scorsese to Darren Aronofsky – and has appeared in such films as “Alex in Wonderland” (1970), “The King of Marvin Gardens” (1972), “Harry and Tonto” (1974), “Providence” (1976), “Dream of Passion” (1978), “Silence of the North” (1980), “Twice in a Lifetime” (1986), “Dying Young” (1990), “The Cemetery Club” (1993), “Roommates” (1995), “How To Make An American Quilt” (1995), “The Babysitter’s Club” (1995), “The Spitfire Grill” (1996), “Playing By Heart” (1998), “The Yards” (1998), “Walking Across Egypt” (1999), and “The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood” (2002).
On television, Burstyn received an Emmy nomination for her title role in “The People vs. Jean Harris”. She received a second nomination for her starring role in Pack of Lies, a 1987 Hallmark Hall of Fame television production, and in 2001 co-starred on the CBS series “That’s Life”.
Ellen Burstyn was the first woman to be elected President of Actor’s Equity Association (1982-85), and served as the Artistic Director of the Actors Studio for six years, where she studied with the late Lee Strasberg. She continues to be active there as co-president with Al Pacino and Harvey Keitel. Ms. Burstyn received the Career Achievement Award from the 2000 Boston Film Festival and the Career Achievement Award from the prestigious National Board of Review in early 2001.
Born Edna Rae Gillooly in Detroit, Michigan, Ms. Burstyn spent her early years as a model and actress, appearing regularly on the classic television shows “The Jackie Gleason Show”, “The Doctors, Ben Casey and Iron Horse”. Academically, she holds three honorary doctorates: one in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, a Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College, as well as one from the New School for Social Research where she teaches in the Actors Studio/New School M.F.A. program. Ms. Burstyn also lectures throughout the country on a wide range of topics.