1973
The Exorcist
Chris MacNeil
FLM.REDELLEN
BURSTYN
เอลเลน เบอร์สติน
A career shaped by human resilience
From The Exorcist and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore to Interstellar.
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Women facing change across generations
Ellen Burstyn was born on 7 December 1932 in Detroit, Michigan. Her career spans film, television and theatre, with performances that often place complicated family relationships at the centre.
In The Exorcist (1973), Burstyn plays Chris MacNeil, an actor trying to help her daughter Regan as frightening changes overtake her. The role earned Burstyn an Academy Award nomination.
She won the Academy Award for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974), playing a widow seeking a new life for herself and her son. Burstyn was also closely involved in developing the film, directed by Martin Scorsese.
In Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar (2014), she appears as the older Murph. Her scenes connect the film’s vast journey through space to the long passage of time experienced by the family left on Earth.
The films below are those available on FLM.RED, not a complete filmography.
Selected roles
1974
Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore
Alice Hyatt
2014
Interstellar
Older Murph
Performance readings are FLM.RED editorial interpretation.
Films in FLM.RED
Titles in this collection; not a complete filmography.
Sources & image notes
- Detroit Historical Society — biography
- BFI — career interview
- Television Academy — profile
- Biography.com — screen career
Portrait illustration: FLM.RED.