Ellen Burstyn married actor Neil Nephew in 1964, and he later took her surname. She remembered him as brilliant and charming, until his mental health collapsed and the marriage became a constant threat. She left. But leaving did not make her safe.
For years, Neil stalked and beat her. He showed up at her workplaces, shouted her name from a balcony during the Broadway premiere and, at one point, even kidnapped her son. Already separated but still legally married, he entered her home and raped her. When she asked for help, she was told there was no crime: the attacker was her husband.
Meanwhile, the world watched her win the Oscar for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore and earn nominations for The Last Picture Show and The Exorcist. Neil died in 1978 after jumping from the ninth floor of his apartment in Manhattan, leaving her with a guilt that took decades to let go of. Today, at 93 and with a Golden Lion in Venice for her career, Ellen decided to tell her story in her own voice.
