Ellen Corby (June 3, 1911 - April 14, 1999) was an Academy Award-nominated American character actress. She is most widely remembered for the role of "Grandma Walton" on the television series The Waltons, for which she won three Emmy Awards.

Ellen Corby was born Ellen Hansen on June 3, 1911, in Racine, Wisconsin. She began her career as a bit player in the film Speed Limited (1935) in 1940. Ellen would not be seen on the big screen again until 1945 in Cornered (1945). In 1946, she appeared in 14 films, although mostly in small, minor roles. One of them was in the Christmas classic It's a Wonderful Life (1946). One of the highlights of her career came about in 1948 in I Remember Mama (1948) as Aunt Trina. Ellen garnered a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which was ultimately won by Claire Trevor in Key Largo (1948). The Oscar nomination didn't send her to the heights she had hoped. This wonderful actress continued in roles that were mostly minor compared to some of her contemporaries. However, it was television where she would receive the acclaim that had eluded her on the screen. Time after time she played parts that was absolutely outstanding. One of the funniest was as Myrt "Hubcaps" Lesh in "Andy Griffith Show, The" (1960). She was the ringleader of a gang that stole cars and then sold them, and she sold Barney Fife a stolen car that turned out to be a real lemon. The series that brought her worldwide recognition, though, was the highly acclaimed "Waltons, The" (1972) as Esther "Grandma" Walton. The role got her Emmy awards in 1973, 1974, and 1975. Although a stroke in 1977 slowed her down, Ellen still made appearances on the series. Her last TV appearance was in 1997 in the TV movie Walton Easter, A (1997) (TV). On April 14, 1999, Ellen died at the Motion Picture & Television Hospital in Woodland Hills, California. She was 87 years old.

Ellen Hansen (aka Ellen Corby aka Grandma Walton) was born June 3, 1911 (or 1913), in Racine, WI. She grew up in Philadelphia, PA, and left for Hollywood in the early 1930s to become an actress, which she became only after working as a script assistant for twelve years. She appeared in over 25 uncredited or small character parts before taking the role of the lovelorn Aunt Trina, in I Remember Mama (1948), which won her a nomination for Best Supporting Actress. She appeared in such well-known films as Shane (1953), Sabrina (1954), and Vertigo (1958) as well as such trivialities as Ma and Pa Kettle Go to Town (1950) and Bowery Boys Meet the Monsters, The (1954), usually playing the character part of an old maid busybody. She made many guest appearances in television westerns, receiving a Golden Boot award from the Motion Picture and Television Fund in 1989. It was in television that she established the role for which she will always be remembered: Grandma Esther Walton in "Waltons, The" (1972) (1972-81). Even after suffering a serious stroke in 1977, she continued to make occasional, brief appearances in the series and its reprisals. She won Emmys as Best Supporting Actress for the part of Grandma in 1973, 1975, and 1976. She died April 14, 1999, aged 87, at the Motion Picture and Television Hospital in Woodland Hills CA.