Veteran actress Ellen Burstyn made a rare and radiant red carpet appearance at the New York premiere of The Age of Disclosure at Intrepid Museum on November 18, 2025. The Oscar winner, 92, looked radiant in a soft burgundy suede-effect blouse teamed with slim black trousers and black trainers. She added a pop of colour with a silky pink patterned scarf loosely around her neck. Born on 7 December 1932, Ellen has been a force in film, television and theatre for more than six decades. She became a household name in the 1970s thanks to the 1973 hit horror movie The Exorcist, earning her an Academy Award nomination for her haunting portrayal of Linda Blair's mother, Chris MacNeil.
© Getty ImagesJust two years later, she won the Academy Award for Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, directed by Martin Scorsese. Her fearlessly intense turn as Sara Goldfarb in Requiem for a Dream in 2000 earned her another Oscar nomination and remains one of the most acclaimed performances of modern cinema. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Ellen described her working relationship with director Darren Aronofsky.
© Getty Images"The scene in the film where Sara goes to the TV station, Darren gave me the best piece of direction I ever got in my life," she said, explaining that the scene was shot four times and "each time Darren was happy with it."
"But then instead of stopping, he said, 'OK, we've got that, it's in the can. Now just do one more and do whatever you want,'" she recalled. "So I felt that I had been doing whatever I wanted, and I had done it four times, and it was good. I don't know why I have to do it again, but alright." That decision paid off, however, she explained.
© Getty Images"That fifth take is what's in the film because… he took all of the obligations off it where I didn't have to do it a certain way. I didn't have to do it the way it was in my mind. I just did it, and something else came through, and that, for me, became a really important lesson. You have to be open to what comes and allow that to be expressed, and that has a deeper level of truth than you do when you're obligated to make it right. Best direction I ever got."
Ellen is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Emmy Awards, making her one of the few performers to achieve the "Triple Crown of Acting". She has also received a BAFTA Award and a Golden Globe Award. She continues to work steadily in her nineties, appearing in films, television dramas and theatre productions with the same commitment she brought to her early work.
© Getty ImagesEllen has been married twice and has one son, Jefferson, with whom she shares a close relationship. She now divides her time between homes in New York and the Hudson Valley, enjoying a quieter pace when she's not on set.
In conversation with Christoper Meloni in Interview, she candidly shared the secret of her longevity. "Well, the secret of that is eating well, exercising, not drinking, not smoking, not doing drugs, and deciding to live healthy," she said. "That's what I decided after doing all those bad things for a couple of decades."
