Born and raised in St. Louis, Ellen left school (Webster College) and moved to New York in 1973 "to study acting for a summer. I guess I believed that myself." At nights she would sing in her boyfriend's rock band. She also pursued an acting career and soon found herself working in off-Broadway and Public Theatre productions. Said Ellen: "I started studying at H.B. Studios in Greenwich Village and found a great acting teacher, Alice Spivak, still my mentor. I started going to cattle-call auditions where literally hundreds of people were vying for one role. I first got non-paying work off-off Broadway in "new" plays such as "Sophia Equals Wisdom Part 2" and "Charlie Chestnut Rides The I.R.T". My first paying job was singing in Catskill Mountain hotels - a resort area - in a very straight musical comedy revue. I was fired, I was too odd, thank God!". Somewhat disillusioned with her situation, Ellen took another route; rock 'n' roll. She found a rock band called "Big Jive", based in Atlantic City, and joined them for 6 months as lead vocalist. Their material consisted of originals, Top 40 songs and Bessie Smith tunes. Said Ellen: "I sang Frank Sinatra's "That's Life" which was interesting to me (and a predecessor to Sid's "My Way", by the way). We made demos, got nowhere and we disbanded. When that ended I was back in New York, going to school, and auditioning for theatre. I was a token female in a comedy called "Boy Meets Boy", and waited tables."

In 1975 Ellen got a part in the touring company of "The National Lampoon Show", "completely tasteless, sacrilegious - and a lot of fun", Ellen later remembered. She met Meat Loaf and Jim Steinman who also were in the show. Said Ellen: "At this time Steinman was hatching "Bat Out Of Hell", and he wrote "Paradise By The Dashboard Light" for Meat and I. After the tour I collected unemployment and auditioned with Meat and Steinman for countless record execs and producers who looked at us and said; 'Huh?!" In the meantime, Ellen got involved in a show called "YMCA" in which she reportedly played a pregnant baboon, Patty Hearst, a cheerleader and a fairy! The television series "Three Girls Three" followed next, a variety show about the lives of three cabaret-style singers (which was an American attempt at "Rock Follies"). "One day I went to a general audition for a television show called "Three Girls Three", .... all singing, all dancing, all comedy. I was flown out to Los Angeles for a screen test, and got the job. They auditioned 300 people for the parts and chose three of us. Mimi Kennedy who I'd first met at National Lampoon Show also got a part," Ellen later said. Debbie Allen was the third girl on the set. Said Ellen: "It was an amazing jump from working for free. It was a four part mini series. I had my own song each week, attempted comedy, was made very blonde and wore fancy gowns. I worked with such people as Bob Hope and Steve Martin. But I was glad it was all over. I was out of place." In retrospect, Ellen feels that the "television thing" was a crucial turning part in her career. "(Three Girls Three) was the ultimate fake situation, all Broadway, Vegas, Hollywood. I had to get back to reality,"