The Life and Struggles of Hollywood Legend Ellen Burstyn

After she won Best Actress for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, her Oscar reached her in an unusual way. Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau delivered it to the stage door of the Broadway theater where she was working, carrying it in a liquor box.

She asked Matthau what winning an Oscar really meant. He answered, “When you die, the newspapers will say, ‘The Academy Award-winning actress Ellen Burstyn died today.’” The joke was dry, but the point was clear. Her name had changed permanently.