[2] The performance was followed the same year by a co-starring role opposite Louise Fazenda in Cradle Snatchers.

Ellis then played the romantic lead in a Western opposite Buck Jones in Chain Lightning (1927); and after appearing in four other films, she was cast in a supporting role in Happiness Ahead (1928), a high-profile release that starred the popular actresses Colleen Moore and Lilyan Tashman.

[3] Ellis's next-to-last film, High Voltage (1929), was a box-office success and was her first full talking picture.

[4] Ellis's final acting appearance was in Laughter (1930), which was the biggest role of her career, featuring her in a romantic triangle along with Fredric March and Nancy Carroll.

Just two months later, during the couple's extended honeymoon in India, she fell ill with an infection and died in Madras (now Chennai), 5 days before her 21st birthday.