Ellen Burstyn to make West End debut

Burstyn won an Oscar for 1974's Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore

Oscar-winning actress Ellen Burstyn is to make her London stage debut opposite Keira Knightley next year.

Burstyn, who turns 78 next month, will play the grandmother of a pupil in The Children's Hour, opening at the Comedy theatre in January.

US actress Carole Kane has also joined Knightley and Mad Men star Elisabeth Moss in the West End production.

Set in a New England girls' boarding school, Lillian Hellman's 1934 play was last seen in London in 1994.

Knightley and Moss - also making her West End debut - play teachers accused of having a lesbian relationship.

Tobias Menzies - Brutus in TV series Rome - has also been added to the cast of Ian Rickson's revival.

Born Edna Rae Gillolly in 1932, Burstyn is best known for her roles in horror classic The Exorcist and 2000's Requiem for a Dream.

In 1975 she won an Oscar for her performance in Martin Scorsese's film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.