Though it took no small amount of time to get her first break in 'Irish Coffee,' the roles started flooding in.
She left college wanting to be an Egyptologist, but instead decided to pursue acting. Though accepted, her teachers felt her chances at succeeding were slim at best, citing that she had 'a little talent, but no spark.' After studying at the school for three years, Barkin moved on to Hunter College, where she worked as a waitress to pay her tuition while studying history and drama. At 15, she spent a great deal of time hanging out in Greenwich Village and, on a lark, auditioned for the High School of Performing Arts. Always a rebellious child, Barkin once protested her parents' refusal to let her go to Woodstock by staying up all night dropping acid. Her father was a salesman for Fuller Brush who also worked as an usher at Yankee Stadium her mother was an administrative assistant at Jamaica Hospital.
Ellen Barkin was born into a working-class Jewish family in South Bronx, NY.
