Fans have a lot to look forward to when Law & Order: SVU returns for a 10th season on September 23 on NBC.  One of which is the highly anticipated guest appearance of Ellen Burstyn, who, according to TV Guide, will grace the series as Detective Elliot Stabler's (Christopher Meloni) bipolar mother.

Not much has been revealed about Burstyn's storyline on Law & Order: SVU.  And although the Oscar-winning actress will only appear in one episode, her visit to the police procedural drama is expected to be “explosive.”

This isn't the first time Burstyn played a controversial mother role.  She won an Oscar award for Best Actress for playing a young widow and mother in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore and most recently, played Barb's  (JeanneTripplehorn) loving, dignified yet disapproving mother on HBO's Big Love.

In addition to the aforementioned roles, Burstyn also worked in films such as The Last Picture Show, where she received her first Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress in 1971, and the 1973 horror movie The Exorcist, where she was nominated for Best Actress.

On TV, Burstyn established the role of Dr. Kate Bartok on the NBC soap opera The Doctors and worked on several primetime television shows, including guest appearances on Perry Mason, Maverick, Wagon Train, 77 Sunset Strip, The Big Valley and Gunsmoke.  In 1986, she had her own ABC sitcom, The Ellen Burstyn Show, costarring Megan Mullally as her daughter and Elaine Stritch as her mother.  Unfortunately, it was canceled after one season.

Meanwhile, Law & Order: SVU isn't the only upcoming acting gig for Burstyn.  She has just completed several movies such as Our Lady of Victory and The Loss of a Teardrop Diamond, both of which will be released in theaters this year.  She has also been cast as Barbara Bush in W. and in the 2009 drama Lovely, Still.


-Kris De Leon, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: TV Guide
(Image courtesy of Wire Image)