Ellen Orchid(II)

Ellen Orchid is an actress, stand-up, and writer from Brooklyn, NY. She has an MFA from the Actors Studio Drama School. She has studied at the Lee Strasberg TV and Film Institute and at HB Studios with Austin Pendleton. She performed stand-up on "The View" and at clubs around NYC. She had a walk-on in "The Girlwatcherse" skit on SNL in October, 1989, with Tom Hanks. Her play "Prescriptions" was published. Other plays include: "Adjustments", "Criminal Mischief", "Dream Wedding!", "Rest In Pieces" (solo show which she wrote and performed) and "Wife #5". She wrote a screenplay called "UnRetired" and a sitcom spec script. She appeared Off-Bway in "Tony 'n' Tina's Wedding" in NYC. She has done many other plays and musical theater. Some favorite Off-Off-Bway roles: "Bananas" in "The House of Blue Leaves" by John Guare; "Dolly Hamma" in "Orpheus Descending" directed by Terry Schreiber at the T. Schreiber Studio, "Dotty" in "Noises Off!", "Miss Electra" in "Gypsy!", "Mrs. Harcourt" in "Anything Goes", and "Domina" in "A Funny Thing...Forum." Many others. Acting is her joy. She played herself in a wonderful documentary about the benefits of a vegan diet: "Vegucated" directed by Marisa Miller Wolfson. Ellen completed medical school at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in their MD-Ph.D. program. Her Ph.D. is in Neuroscience. She completed a psych residency at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan and has treated thousands of patients. She has published articles on psychiatry in Psychiatric Times and Clinical Psych News. She once saved a patient by doing CPR. Her grandfather was Jacob Weinberg (1879-1956), a gifted Russian composer who performed at Carnegie Hall, Town Hall, City Center (when it was still the "Mecca Temple"), and the 92nd St Y. and many other venues. He wrote the first Hebrew opera, "The Pioneers of Palestine" in 1924. Ellen wrote a biography of him, "Jacob Weinberg, Musical Pioneer", published on Amazon.com.