Norma Millay Ellis

Norma Millay Ellis (1894 - May 14, 1986) was an American singer and actress, and sister of the famous poet and playwright Edna St. Vincent Millay.^[1] Born in Rockland, Maine to Cora Lounella Buzelle and Henry Tolman Millay, Ellis was one of three sisters who were all, due to their parents’ divorce, largely brought up by their mother.^[2] Having been a writer of poetry herself, Cora Millay ensured the presence of art and music in the Millay household, which became a vital part of the upbringing of Ellis and her two sisters.^[3] Ellis would go on to perform with the Provincetown Players and appear on Broadway. She married painter and actor Charles Ellis.^[1]

At the time of her sister Edna St. Vincent Millay’s death in 1950, Ellis was left as the sole heir to her estate, leaving her to inherit Steepletop, a 650-acre farm in Austerlitz, New York, where Millay had spent the last twenty-five years of her life, as well as rights to all of her creative and intellectual property. In 1973, Ellis would go on to create the Millay Colony for the Arts, right next to Steepletop, as a center for burgeoning artists, offering residency and workshops for them to refine their craft.

After attempting to write a biography of her sister Edna on her own, Ellis contacted the biographer Nancy Milford to write one in her stead.^[3][4] Ellis would not live to see the 2001 publication of Milford’s biography Savage Beauty: The Life of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

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