In 1974, Ellen Burstyn won an Academy Award for her role in Martin Scorsese's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. In it, Burstyn portrays Alice Hyatt, who hits the road in search of her future after her husband's death.
When it comes to depicting sorrow and searching, Burstyn has a natural advantage: She has lived it.
Burstyn's memoir, Lessons in Becoming Myself, is about her journey, both professionally and spiritually. She examines her career, which spans five decades on stage, television and film, and her troubled family life: an undermining mother, an absent father, transitory stepfathers and broken marriages -- her last to a man who became psychotic.
Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.
