Ellen Blake
Ellen was born and raised in New York city and moved to California in the
1960's where she continued her interest in acting with small theater groups.
In the 1970's Ellen began her 23 year career in film and television. She has
appeared in over 200 Movies for Television as well as episodic shows,
including recurring roles on "Hill Street Blues" and "L.A. Law" and has 13
feature films to her credit. She most recently completed "Suspect Zero"
starring Ben Kingsley and "Blind Horizon" with Val Kilmer and Sam Shepard,
both to be released in the Fall of 2003.
In 1998, Ellen re-located to Harlem in New York City where she began work as
a Substance Abuse Counselor.
She managed a caseload of 35 clients, men and women, and her duties included
facilitating many educational and spiritual groups. Ellen was a member of
the interdisciplinary treatment team and attended and participated in weekly
case conferences. She worked closely with the staff psychologist as many of
the clients were dual diagnosed. She liasoned with Division of Parole;many
clients were involved with the criminal justice system and worked closely
with the Agency for Children's Services; many clients had their children in
the foster care system. Ellen advocated for clients with the community
services offered in vocational training, education/literacy programs and
housing. She facilitated both individual and group counseling. Groups
included: Drug and Alcohol Education, Relapse Prevention, Conflict
Resolution and Anger Management as well as leading a weekly women's
spirituality group.
During the "screen" years, Ellen was a founding member/actress in
residence with the Padua Hills Playwrights Festival, performing original
works by New York playwrights including, David Hwang, Robin Baitz, Sam
Shepard, Irene Fornes and others. She was also seen in productions around
Southern California at the La Jolla Playhouse, Odyssey Theater and the San
Diego Rep Co. Starting in the 1980's, Ellen opened her own casting office
and was busy casting commercials and films with directors such as Haskell
Wexler, Tony Scott, Gore Verbinsky and many others. Ellen continued her
casting career as well as acting in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she also
taught "Acting for the Camera" for Directing and Theater majors at The
College of Santa Fe. She is proud, honored and enthusiastic to be a new
member of the board of Overtones Industries.