Ellen Burstyn

Burstyn in 2009, photo by s_bukley/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Edna Rae Gillooly

Place of Birth: Detroit, Michigan, U.S.

Date of Birth: December 7, 1932

Ethnicity:
*father – Irish
*mother – French-Canadian, German, 1/16th First Nations, small amount of English

Ellen Burstyn is an American actress. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974).

Ellen is the daughter of Correine Marie (Hamel) and John Austin Gillooly. Her surname is from her former husband, actor and writer Neil Nephew (who was born Neil Bernstein). She has a son with her former husband Paul Roberts.

Ellen’s paternal grandfather was named James H. Gillooly. James was born in New Jersey, to Irish parents.

Ellen’s paternal grandmother was named Helen C. Nolen. Helen was born in New Jersey, to an Irish mother.

Ellen’s maternal grandfather was George/August Joseph Hamel (the son of Théophile Hamel and Marie Eléonore Duchesny). George was born in Michigan, to Canadian parents, of mostly French-Canadian descent. Théophile was born in Plessisville, the son of Alexis Hamel and Marie Soulange Carpentier. Marie Eléonore was the daughter of Louis Joseph Ducheny and Geneviève Pagé. Louis’s mother, Marie-Josephte/Missinakokoue/Missinakeke Duchenay, was First Nations.

Ellen’s maternal grandmother was Mary Edna Camp (the daughter of Samuel Anderson Camp and Missouri Utzler). Mary was born in Pennsylvania.

Sources: Los Angeles Times article on Ellen Burstyn, 2000 – http://articles.latimes.com

Ellen’s father on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org

Genealogy of Ellen’s mother – https://www.wikitree.com

Ellen’s mother on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org
Ellen’s mother on the 1920 U.S. Census – https://familysearch.org