Evelyn and Sol Barkin welcomed actress Ellen Barkin into the world on April 16, 1954 in the Bronx, New York.
Her father, Sol Barkin, was a chemical salesman, and her mother, Evelyn (née), was an administrator at Jamaica Hospital.
Jewish immigrants from Siberia and the Russian-Polish border make up the Sol family.
Ellen attended Parsons Junior High School while she was a resident in Flushing, New York.
She graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan, went to Hunter College, and majored in both acting and history there.
Barkins once entertained the idea of becoming a teacher of ancient history. She nevertheless kept taking acting classes at the Actors Studio in New York City.
Before getting her first audition, she spent ten years studying acting, according to a Time article.
She appeared in the stoner comedy Up in Smoke in 1978 without receiving any credit, then at the age of 28, she made her formal acting debut in Diner in 1982.
