Ellen Greene

Ellen Greene is an American actress and singer whose career has spanned over five decades, encompassing cabaret, musical theatre, film, and television. Born in Brooklyn, New York, she grew up in a family with a guidance‑counselor mother and a dentist father, and attended W. Tresper Clarke High School in Westbury before spending summers performing in musical productions at Cejwin Camps in Port Jervis. Her early professional work began in New York nightclubs such as The Brothers and Sisters, Continental Baths, Grand Finale and Reno Sweeney’s, where critics like Rex Reed praised her dynamic stage presence. Greene’s Broadway debut came in 1973 with the title role of Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don’t You Ever Forget It), a production that closed before officially opening, but it paved the way for subsequent off‑Broadway and Shakespeare Festival engagements. Notably, her performance as Jenny in The Threepenny Opera (1976) earned her a Tony Award nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Musical in 1977. The role that cemented her iconic status was Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, which she originated off‑Broadway in 1982 and later reprised in the 1986 film opposite Rick Moranis, showcasing her powerful vocals and comedic timing. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s she appeared in a variety of films including I’m Dancing as Fast as I Can, Talk Radio and Pump Up the Volume, and made guest appearances on television series such as Miami Vice, Law & Order, The X‑Files and Heroes. Her voice work includes Goldie in the Don Bluth animated feature Rock‑a‑Doodle and Dolly Gopher in the web series Out of Jimmy’s Head. In later years Greene continued to blend stage and screen, starring as Vivian Charles on Pushing Daisies (2007) and returning to the role of Audrey for the New York City Center Encores! concert in 2015. She released the album In His Eyes in 2004, collaborating with her second husband Christian Klikovits, and performed as Miss Adelaide in a Hollywood Bowl concert production of Guys and Dolls in 2009. Her recent work includes appearances on The Young and the Restless, the ABC Family series Bunheads, and a cameo in the 2016 Democratic National Convention “Fight Song” video, confirming her enduring presence in American entertainment.