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Biography
Born in Detroit, Ellen worked a number of jobs before she became an
actress. At 14, she was a short-order cook at a lunch counter.
After dropping out of high school, she went to Texas to model and
then to New York as a showgirl on the Jackie Gleason Television
show. From there, it was Montreal as a nightclub dancer and then
Broadway with her debut in "Fair Game (1957)". By 1963, she would
appear on Television Series "The Doctors", but she would gain
notice for her role in 'Goodbye Charlie (1964)'. Ellen then took
time off to study acting with 'Lee Strasberg' (qv) at the Actors
Studio. Ellen's big break came when she was cast as the female lead
in _Last Picture Show, The (1971)_ (qv). For this role, she would
receive nominations for the Golden Globe and Academy Award. Next,
she would co-star with Nicholson in _King of Marvin Gardens, The
(1972)_ (qv) giving a chilling performance. Then came 'The Exorcist
(1973)'. Ellen was again nominated for the Golden Globe and Academy
Award. So what does she do next year. In 1974, she stars in 'Alice
Doesn't Live Here Anymore', playing a waitress, which is a job that
she well knows. For this performance, she wins the Oscar as Best
Actress as well as the British award for the same category. For the
Golden Globe, she would be nominated, but lose to 'Marsha Mason'
(qv). Ellen would make history by winning a Tony Award for the
Broadway play "Same Time, Next Year". She would be the only actress
to win both awards in the same year. She would win praise and award
nominations for the movie version of 'Same Time, Next Year (1978)'
and 'Resurrection (1980)'. Resurrection was a another great film in
which she played awoman with the power to heal. Even with all these
sucessful movies and all the awards, Ellen found that she could
barely get a job in the 80's. A succession of Television movies
resulting in two Emmy nominations kept Ellen going as did the
Television Series "The Ellen Burstyn Show (1986)". The Television
movies would continue through the 90's. In the 90's, Ellen would be
cast in the supporting role in such movies as _Cemetery Club, The
(1993)_ (qv), 'How to Make an American Quilt (1995)' and
_Baby-Sitters Club, The (1995)_ (qv) and _Spitfire Grill, The
(1996)_ (qv). In addition to her acting, Burstyn was the first
woman president of Actor's Equity, the actors' union, from 1982 to
1985.
Biography courtesy of the Internet Movie Database (www.imdb.com).
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Ellen Burstyn