September 10, 2013 - Port Huron, Mich. - Academy Award-winning actress, Ellen Burstyn will appear at this year's Blue Water Film Festival as the event's recipient of the Golden Mitten Award. The award recognizes "an individual from Michigan that has made a significant mark in the arts and entertainment field," said BWFF executive director Jeremy Stemen. "We are thrilled and incredibly honored have Ms. Burstyn appear at the festival this year." The presentation will take place at McMorran Place Theatre at 9:30 p.m. during the Blue Water Film Awards ceremony on Saturday, September 27, 2013.Burstyn originally hails from Detroit and began her career in theatre during the late 1950s and over the next decade it included several films and television series.
Burstyn's performance in the acclaimed 1971 ensemble drama The Last Picture Show brought her first Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, after which she moved from supporting to leading film and stage roles. Burstyn received a second Academy Award nomination for her lead performance in The Exorcist (1973), and won the Academy Award for Best Actress the following year for her work in Martin Scorsese's, Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.
In 1975, she won the Tony Award for her lead performance in the Broadway production of Same Time, Next Year, and received a Golden Globe Award and a fourth Academy Award nomination for her performance in the 1978 film version of the play.
Burstyn has worked consistently in film, television and theatre since, receiving multiple awards and nominations along the way, including seven additional Golden Globe Award nominations, five Emmy Award nominations (one win), and two more Academy Award nominations for Best Actress for her performances in the films Resurrection (1980) and Requiem for a Dream (2000).
Ellen Burstyn was the first woman elected president of Actors Equity Association (1982-85), and served as the Artistic Director of the famed Actors Studio where she studied with the late Lee Strasberg.
Academically, Ms. Burstyn holds four honorary doctorates, one in Fine Arts from the School of Visual Arts, a Doctor of Humane Letters from Dowling College, a doctorate from The New School for Social Research, and a doctorate from Pace University where she teaches in The Actors Studio M.F.A. program
Burstyn has been a significant presence on television, film and the stage for over 50 years. The Blue Water Film Festival is pleased to present its award of prestige, the Golden Mitten to such a worthy candidate.
Tickets to all Blue Water Film Festival events may be purchased at www.bluewaterfilmfestival.com
