Her early upbringing in a wealthy family included extensive musical education before she chose to join operatic and comic theatre.

[1] She was one of eight children born to Richard R. Flannagan, a Tammany Hall politician, who was elected a Coroner of New York County from 1876 to 1879,[2] and a wealthy mother related to Governor Horatio Seymour.

[9] Ellis was noted by the Chicago Inter Ocean for her performance in the Black Hussar, especially her "piquant, saucy air" in her acting and her "pleasant singing voice" for the song "Ohe Mamma" that received several requests for encores.

[10] Ellis married Henry S. Blake on November 15, 1887,[11] and temporarily retired from theatre shortly afterwards,[11] but returned in the middle of 1888 as a part of Heinrich Conried's English Opera Company and its performances at Uhrig's Cave.

[15] She died on October 2, 1924, at the reported age of 50 when she suffered a heart attack while visiting her theatrical manager's office to sell a new play she had written.