Ellen Greene | |
---|---|
Greene in Glory! Glory! (1989)
|
|
Born |
Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
February 22, 1951
Occupation | Singer, actress |
Years active | 1973–present |
Spouse(s) |
Tibor Hardik (m. 1990; div. 1997) Christian Klikovits (m. 2003; div. 2007) |
Website | www |
Ellen Greene (born February 22, 1951) is an American singer and actress. Greene has had a long and varied career as a singer, particularly in cabaret, as an actress and singer in numerous stage productions, particularly musical theatre, as well as having performed in many films—notably Little Shop of Horrors—and television series. From 2007 to 2009, she starred as Vivian Charles on the ABC series Pushing Daisies.
Greene was born in Brooklyn, New York. Her mother was a guidance counselor, and her father was a dentist. Greene is Jewish. She attended W. Tresper Clarke High School, in Westbury, New York. She spent summers at Cejwin Camps in Port Jervis, New York, where she performed in musical theatre productions, including the role of Tzeitel in a 1966 production of Fiddler on the Roof. She had a relationship with puppeteer Martin P. Robinson. Her first marriage was to Tibor Hardik. She married Christian Klikovits on September 25, 2003; they have since divorced.
Greene's career began as a nightclub singer in clubs such as The Brothers and Sisters, Grand Finale, and Reno Sweeney. She received rave reviews from critics such as Rex Reed, George Bell, and John S. Wilson. Around this time, she befriended the late Peter Allen. Her first starring role was as the lead in the notorious Broadway bomb Rachael Lily Rosenbloom (And Don't You Ever Forget It) (1973), which co-starred Anita Morris.