Ellen Muth (; born March 6, 1981) is an American former actress best known for her role as Georgia "George" Lass in

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

's series ''

Dead Like Me ''Dead Like Me'' is an American comedy-drama television series starring Ellen Muth and Mandy Patinkin as grim reapers who reside and work in Seattle, Washington. Filmed in Vancouver, British Columbia, the show was created by Bryan Fuller for ...

'' (2003–2004 series, 2009 film).

Early life

Muth was born in

Milford, Connecticut Milford is a coastal city in New Haven County, Connecticut, United States, located between New Haven and Bridgeport. The population was 50,558 at the 2020 United States Census. The city includes the village of Devon and the borough of Woodmont. ...

, to Eric (a military veteran) and Rachel Muth. As of 2004, Muth was a member of

Intertel Intertel (previously the International Legion of Intelligence) is a high-IQ society founded in 1966, that is open to those who have scored at or above the 99th percentile (top 1%) on one of various standardized tests of intelligence. It has been ...

and Mensa, high-IQ societies. She attended the

Skip Barber Racing School The Skip Barber Racing School is an American racing and driving school. Skip Barber founded the school in 1975. History In 1975, Skip Barber started the Skip Barber School of High Performance Driving at Riverside International Raceway. In 1976, ...

and the

Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute The Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute (originally the Lee Strasberg Theatre Institute) is an acting school founded in 1969 by actor, director, and acting teacher Lee Strasberg. The Institute is located in Union Square on East 15th Street, a ...

Career

After a brief stint as a model with

Ford Models Ford Models, originally the Ford Modeling Agency, is an American international modeling agency based in New York City. It was established in 1946 by Eileen Ford and her husband Gerard W. Ford. Company Ford Models was started in 1946 by Eileen ...

and Rascal's Agency, Muth pursued a career in acting, studying at the

in New York City, and getting her first professional experience doing commercials in 1993. Her first major role was in the 1995 film ''

Dolores Claiborne ''Dolores Claiborne'' () is a 1992 psychological thriller novel by Stephen King. The novel is narrated by the title character. Atypically for a King novel, it has no chapters, double-spacing between paragraphs, or other section breaks; thus, t ...

''. She followed that with a role in the eighth-season premiere of ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

''. Muth's appearance as the daughter in the 1999 film '' The Young Girl and the Monsoon'' earned praise from

Stephen Holden Stephen Holden (born July 18, 1941) is an American writer, poet, and music and film critic. Biography Holden earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Yale University in 1963. He worked as a photo editor, staff writer, and eventually be ...

of ''The New York Times'' for her range in portraying a character "who one minute can be as clinging as a baby and the next delights in cruelly demolishing the nearest grownup with laser-like sarcasm" and her chemistry "whenever Constance (who narrates the film) is on the screen with her father Hank (

Terry Kinney Terry Kinney (born January 29, 1954) is an American actor and theater director, and is a founding member of the Steppenwolf Theatre Company, with John Malkovich, Laurie Metcalf, Gary Sinise, and Jeff Perry. Kinney is best known for his role as ...

)". Her 2000 work includes appearances in episodes of '' The Beat'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', as well as a role in

The American Collection ''The American Collection'' was a spinoff series of '' Masterpiece Theater'', which ran from 2000 to 2003, for the former series' 30th anniversary. It was funded originally by Exxon Mobil (later Mobil); however, funding for both series was withdra ...

adaptation of "Cora Unashamed", a

short story A short story is a piece of prose fiction that typically can be read in one sitting and focuses on a self-contained incident or series of linked incidents, with the intent of evoking a single effect or mood. The short story is one of the oldest ...

Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, Hug ...

from his 1934 collection ''

The Ways of White Folks ''The Ways of White Folks'' is a collection of fourteen short stories by Langston Hughes, published in 1934. Hughes wrote the book during a year he spent living in Carmel-by-the-Sea, California. The collection addresses multiple dimensions of ...

''. Muth also had a guest role in "Don't Ask", the original unaired pilot episode of the 2000 Fox show that eventually aired as ''

Normal, Ohio ''Normal, Ohio'' is an American television sitcom aired on Fox in 2000. The show stars John Goodman as William "Butch" Gamble, a gay man returning to his Midwestern home town. The cast also includes Joely Fisher, Anita Gillette, Orson Bean, Mo G ...

''. The show's revamp eliminated her role. That year, Muth played the lead in the Lifetime Original Movie ''

The Truth About Jane ''The Truth About Jane'' is a Lifetime Original Movie directed by Lee Rose and starring Stockard Channing, Ellen Muth, Kelly Rowan, Jenny O'Hara and RuPaul (credited under RuPaul Charles). The film is about a teenage girl named Jane (Muth) who ...

'' about a high school girl's struggle with her sexuality and acceptance. Muth starred in the 2003–04

television series ''

'' in the role of Georgia "George" Lass, the protagonist and one of a team of

grim reaper Death is frequently imagined as a personified force. In some mythologies, a character known as the Grim Reaper (usually depicted as a berobed skeleton wielding a scythe) causes the victim's death by coming to collect that person's soul. Other b ...

s. Muth's next roles were lower in profile. She appeared in ''Jack 'n' Jill'', a 2007 MFA thesis film. She voiced the character of Addie Vost in the first animated short of ''Tofu the Vegan Zombie'' and a character in the audio dramatization "Anne Manx in the Empress Blair Project". In September 2008 she joined three other actors at the Theatre Artist Workshop in

Norwalk, Connecticut , image_map = Fairfield County Connecticut incorporated and unincorporated areas Norwalk highlighted.svg , mapsize = 230px , map_caption = Location in Fairfield County, Connecticut, Fairfield County and ...

, in a reading of ''Fleece the Flock'', an original musical comedy in development and directed by Joel Vig. After some delay, '' Dead Like Me: Life After Death'', a film directed by

Stephen Herek Stephen Robert Herek (born November 10, 1958) is an American film director. Herek was born in San Antonio, Texas. He attended the University of Texas at Austin. Career His career as a film director took off in 1986 with the cult horror classic ' ...

based on ''Dead Like Me'' and featuring many members of the show's cast, including Muth, was released

direct-to-video Direct-to-video or straight-to-video refers to the release of a film, TV series, short or special to the public immediately on home video formats rather than an initial theatrical release or television premiere. This distribution strategy was p ...

in March 2009. In 2012, Muth returned to the big screen in the romantic comedy ''Margarine Wars'' alongside

Robert Loggia Salvatore "Robert" Loggia ( , ; January 3, 1930 – December 4, 2015) was an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for '' Jagged Edge'' (1985) and won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for ...

and

Doris Roberts Doris May Roberts ( Green; November 4, 1925 – April 17, 2016) was an American actress whose career spanned seven decades of television and film. She received five Emmy Awards and a Screen Actors Guild award during her acting career, which bega ...

. The film debuted in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

on March 29, 2012. In 2013, Muth made a guest appearance in two episodes of the first season of the TV series ''Hannibal'', produced by

Bryan Fuller Bryan Fuller (born July 27, 1969) is an American television writer and producer who has created a number of television series, including ''Dead Like Me'', ''Wonderfalls'', ''Pushing Daisies'', '' Hannibal'', and '' American Gods.'' Fuller worked a ...

, the creator of ''Dead Like Me''.

Awards and nominations

Muth shared a best supporting actress award at the 1995

Tokyo International Film Festival The is a film festival established in 1985. The event was held biennially from 1985 to 1991 and annually thereafter. Along with the Shanghai International Film Festival, it is one of Asia's competitive film festivals, and is considered to be the ...

for her screen debut in ''

''. In 1999 she won the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

(AFI) Best Actress Award for '' The Young Girl and the Monsoon''. In 2004, Muth's work on ''

'' received two nominations: for a

Saturn Award The Saturn Awards are American awards presented annually by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films. The awards were created to honor science fiction, fantasy, and horror in film, but have since grown to reward other films be ...

in the Best Actress in a Television Series category and for a

Satellite Award The Satellite Awards are annual awards given by the International Press Academy that are commonly noted in entertainment industry journals and blogs. The awards were originally known as the Golden Satellite Awards. The award ceremonies take place ...

in the category of Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama series.

Filmography

Film

Television

Personal life

Muth has withdrawn from public life since her 2013 appearances on ''

Hannibal Hannibal (; xpu, 𐤇𐤍𐤁𐤏𐤋, ''Ḥannibaʿl''; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Puni ...

'', instead concentrating on a coffee business she launched, and a cat-breeding business. Saying she eventually wanted "to settle down and have a family of my own", Muth told a relaxed-lifestyle website in December 2015 that she had "hit the pause button on the acting for now."

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muth, Ellen 1981 births 20th-century American actresses 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Connecticut American film actresses American television actresses Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni Living people Mensans People from Milford, Connecticut