Ellen Foley

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Ellen Foley (born 1951, St. Louis, Missouri) is an American singer and actress whose range of talent and experience has spanned edgy rock, mainstream pop, standard Broadway, sitcom television, and Hollywood. She has released three albums on her own but she is perhaps best known for her collaborative work.

[edit] Rock star

Her debut album from 1979, Nightout is the most memorable, evoking the classic girl group sound of the 1960s, notably Phil Spector's Wall of Sound. The record was produced by Ian Hunter and Mick Ronson. Her two other solo albums were titled "Spirit of St. Louis" and "Another Breath".

Her first big break was singing the duet with Meat Loaf on "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" (now performed in live shows by Patti Russo) and she later sang on Joe Jackson's Body and Soul. [1]

She can be heard on The Clash album Sandinista! in the song "Hitsville UK". All four members of The Clash appeared on her 1981 album The Spirit of St. Louis and Mick Jones and Joe Strummer co-wrote a number of songs for the album. The Clash's hit song "Should I Stay or Should I Go" from the Combat Rock album, was about the turbulent relationship they shared. It was written and sung by Mick Jones.

Ellen Foley was also featured in a band called Pandora's Box, formed by Jim Steinman in 1989. Ellen Foley is married to the writer Doug Bernstein. The couple lives in Manhattan.

[edit] Broadway, film and television

Foley lives in the Upper East Side of Manhattan and continues an active career in music and has appeared on Broadway in such shows as Me and My Girl and the revival of Hair and off-Broadway in Beehive. She originated the role of The Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego but was replaced by Bernadette Peters before the play reached New York. She eventually reprised the role by appearing on Broadway herself.

Her best known television acting role is the role of public defender "Billie Young" on Night Court for one season, after which she was replaced by Markie Post. She had small but memorable parts in Miloš Forman's 1979 film adaptation of the stage musical Hair, Cocktail, Fatal Attraction and Married to the Mob.