Leaving home at age 18 to work as a model in Texas and NYC Ellen Burstyn (nee Edna Rae Gillooly) went through several stage names and an assortment of odd jobs before landing a regular gig as a dancer on “The Jackie Gleason Show” in the late 1950s (billed as Erica Dean). In 1957, she changed her stage name to Ellen McRae for her Broadway debut in “Fair Game” and continued to work under that moniker for over a decade, during which she found constant employment in TV appearances and minor film roles. In 1970, Burstyn began to gain attention for her screen work as Henry Miller’s errant wife in Joseph Strick’s “Tropic of Cancer”, and as the title character’s disenchanted spouse in “Alex in Wonderland”. The following year, now using the name by which she has come to be known, Burstyn garnered critical praise and a Best Supporting Actress Oscar nod for her breakthrough performance as a frustrated wife and ambitious mother in Peter Bogdanovich’s “The Last Picture Show” (1971). “The Exorcist” (1973) won her a second nomination (this time as Best Actress) for her fully believable performance as a resilient, middle-aged actress who refuses to yield against impossible odds to her daughter’s demons, anchoring the film and acting as a counterpoint to the more fantastical elements of the plot. She finally won a Best Actress Oscar for her superb performance as an itinerant housewife turned waitress/singer supporting herself and her 12-year-old son in the poignant “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore” (1975). She recreated her Tony-winning stage triumph in the film adaptation of “Same Time, Next Year” (1978), and was affecting as a woman blessed with healing powers in the little-seen “Resurrection” (1980), both of which earned her additional Best Actress Academy Award nominations.
