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Ellen Corby (June 3, 1911 - April 14, 1999) was an
American character actress. Her most memorable
role was as "Grandma Walton" on the television
series The Waltons.

She was born Ellen Hansen to Danish parents in
Racine, Wisconsin but grew up in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania.  An interest in amateur theater
while in high school led her to Atlantic City in
1932 where she briefly worked as a chorus girl.
She moved to Hollywood that same year and got a
job as a script girl at RKO Studios. She held that
position for the next twelve years and took acting
lessons on the side.

Her career as an actress began in 1946 when she
appeared as a maid in the film Cornered. Two years
later, she received an Academy Award nomination
for Best Supporting Actress playing a lovelorn
aunt in I Remember Mama (1948). Over the next four
decades, she worked steadily in both film and
television, often playing maids, secretaries,
waitresses or gossips. She was a favorite in
western films and had a recurring role as
"Henrietta Porter" in the western television
series Trackdown (1957-1959). Other television
appearances included Wagon Train, The Rifleman, I
Love Lucy, The Virginian, Alfred Hitchcock
Presents, and The Andy Griffith Show. Her most
famous role came in 1972 when she was cast as
"Grandma Esther Walton" on The Waltons. The role
would win her three Emmy Awards as Best Supporting
Actress.

She suffered a serious stroke in 1977 but
recovered and went on to appear in several
television films based on The Waltons. Her last
appearance was in A Walton Easter (1997). 

She died at the age of 87 at the Motion Picture
and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills CA. She
was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in
Glendale, California.

She was married to Francis Corby from 1934 to
1944.