Level 1 — Absolute Beginner
Ellen Burstyn is an actress. She is ninety three years old. On September 7, 2026, she got a big prize. The prize is called the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. She got it at the Venice Film Festival in Italy.
Ellen Burstyn cried at the show. She wore a yellow dress. She used a walker to walk. Many people stood up and clapped for a long time.
Ellen Burstyn is famous for many movies. She won an Oscar for a movie in 1974. She was in the movie 'The Exorcist.' She was also in 'Interstellar.'
She also writes poems. In 2026, she made a new poetry book. She helps run a school for actors too. Its name is the Actors Studio.
- actress
- a woman who acts in movies or plays
- prize
- something special you get for doing very good work
- festival
- a big event with many movies or shows
- ovation
- loud, long clapping from a crowd
- career
- all the work a person does over many years
- honor
- a special way of showing respect to someone
- poetry
- writing that uses words in a beautiful, careful way
- co-president
- a person who leads a group together with another person
Level 2 — Elementary
On September 7, 2026, actress Ellen Burstyn received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival in Italy. She is 93 years old and has worked in film for more than fifty years.
Festival director Alberto Barbera called Burstyn 'an actress of rare intensity and truth.' He said she has brought depth to many unforgettable characters over her long career.
At the ceremony, Burstyn wore a bright yellow gown and walked with the help of a walker. The audience gave her a standing ovation that lasted several minutes, and she cried during her speech.
Burstyn has already won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy, a rare achievement known as the Triple Crown of Acting. She said that winning this new honor felt even bigger than those three awards.
- intensity
- a very strong, powerful quality or feeling
- ceremony
- a formal event held to celebrate something important
- achievement
- something impressive that a person has succeeded in doing
- standing ovation
- when an audience stands up and claps to show strong approval
- gown
- a long, formal dress
- career
- the series of jobs a person has in a field over their life
- honor
- a mark of great respect given to someone
- poetry
- writing arranged with attention to rhythm and expressive language
Level 3 — Intermediate
Ellen Burstyn, now ninety three, was honored with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival on September 7, 2026, a tribute to a career that has spanned more than five decades. The festival, which runs from September 2 to 12 in Italy, followed the award with a masterclass the next day.
Artistic director Alberto Barbera praised Burstyn as 'an actress of rare intensity and truth,' noting that she has brought depth and complexity to a series of unforgettable female characters since she first became a fixture of American cinema. Her credits range from Martin Scorsese's 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore,' for which she won the Academy Award for Best Actress in 1974, to the horror classic 'The Exorcist' and Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar.'
Appearing on stage in a bright yellow gown and supported by a walker, Burstyn was greeted with a standing ovation that stretched on for several minutes. Visibly moved to tears, she remarked that although she had already won an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy, completing the rare feat known as the Triple Crown of Acting, this recognition felt like something more.
Beyond acting, Burstyn currently serves as co-president of the Actors Studio alongside Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin, and she holds four honorary doctorates from universities where she regularly lectures. In 2026 she also published a poetry collection, 'Poetry Says It Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up,' which earned a starred review from Kirkus.
- tribute
- an act or statement that shows respect or admiration for someone
- fixture
- a person or thing that has become a permanent, familiar part of something
- complexity
- the quality of having many connected parts, making something rich or hard to fully describe
- feat
- an achievement that requires great skill, strength, or courage
- recognition
- public acknowledgment of someone's achievements or qualities
- co-president
- one of two people who jointly hold the top leadership position in an organization
- honorary doctorate
- an advanced academic degree given to someone as an honor, without the usual coursework
- starred review
- a particularly strong, favorable review marked with a star by a publication
Level 4 — Advanced
At the 83rd Venice International Film Festival, Ellen Burstyn, ninety three, was presented with the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement on September 7, 2026, a distinction that formally recognized a body of work stretching back more than fifty years. The honor, conferred amid the festival's September 2 to 12 run in Italy, was followed the next day by a masterclass in which Burstyn reflected further on her career.
Artistic director Alberto Barbera framed the tribute in terms that went well beyond ceremonial praise, describing Burstyn as 'an actress of rare intensity and truth' whose fifty year presence in American cinema had lent depth and complexity to a succession of otherwise easily forgotten female roles. That range extends from her Academy Award winning turn in Martin Scorsese's 'Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore' in 1974 to her indelible performance as a besieged mother in 'The Exorcist' and a supporting role in Christopher Nolan's 'Interstellar,' a span that illustrates an unusual durability across genres and generations of filmmaking.
The scene on stage underscored the emotional weight of the award: Burstyn, dressed in a bright yellow gown and relying on a walker, was met with a standing ovation that ran for several minutes before she could speak. Visibly overcome, she told the audience that winning an Oscar, a Tony, and an Emmy, a feat rare enough to be called the Triple Crown of Acting, was one thing, but that this tribute carried a different weight entirely.
Burstyn's continuing engagement with her craft extends well past the stage and screen. She currently serves as co-president of the Actors Studio alongside Al Pacino and Alec Baldwin, holds four honorary doctorates, and lectures widely. Her 2026 poetry collection, 'Poetry Says It Better: Poems to Help You Wake Up,' earned a Kirkus Star, a distinction reserved for books the publication judges to be of exceptional merit, further underscoring a late career defined as much by reinvention as by recognition.
- distinction
- a special honor or mark of excellence conferred on someone
- indelible
- impossible to forget or remove from memory
- durability
- the ability to remain strong, relevant, or in demand over a long period
- overcome
- overwhelmed by a strong emotion, to the point of being unable to continue easily
- feat
- a notable accomplishment demonstrating exceptional skill or effort
- reinvention
- the process of changing so significantly as to appear new or renewed
- merit
- the quality of being particularly good or worthy of praise
- conferred
- granted or bestowed formally, as an honor or title
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