The late Ellen O' Mara was born and raised in Manhattan. In 1966 she won a contest to be the "Red Cross Girl", for a year. After a run of appearing on posters, and dressing in nurse's outfits she auditioned for parts in films, she won the part of her best-known role, Alice Blake, in Escalier interdit (1967). On September 29, 2004, her life was taken after a long battle with Pancreatic cancer, she died at Margaret Tietz Center.