Ellen Foley (born June 5, 1951[1]) is an American singer and actress who has appeared on Broadway and television, where she co-starred in the hit NBC sitcom Night Court during its second season.

[5] Foley gained public recognition through singing a duet with Meat Loaf on the hit single "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" from the 1977 album Bat Out of Hell.

[13] The Clash's hit song "Should I Stay or Should I Go", written and sung by Jones, was about the turbulent relationship he shared with Foley at the time.

[15] In 1984, she sang backing vocals on Joe Jackson's album Body & Soul and had a large role in the music video for Utopia's "Crybaby".

Foley originated the role of The Witch in Stephen Sondheim's Into the Woods at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego,[citation needed] but was replaced by Bernadette Peters before the musical opened on Broadway.

[19] Her best known television acting role is that of Billie Young on Night Court for season two (1984–85),[citation needed] after which she was succeeded by Markie Post as Christine Sullivan, who had been Reinhold Weege's first choice for the public defender part, but Post had been unavailable while under contract on the television series The Fall Guy on ABC.

[20] Foley was reportedly[weasel words] let go from the series because producers felt her relationship with star Harry Anderson was more like that of a brother and sister than as potential paramours.

[21] She had roles in Miloš Forman's film adaptation of the stage musical Hair (1979), as well as in the movies Fatal Attraction (1987), Married to the Mob (1988) and Cocktail (1988).