Ellen Pompeo (born November 10, 1969 in Everett, Massachusetts) is an American actress. Pompeo was born outside of Boston, then lived for a time as a child on New York's Upper West Side. She eventually moved to Miami, where she was a cocktail waitress before heading back to New York, where in 1996 she was bartending at the SoHo Bar & Grill when an agent approached her about appearing in commercials, and she subsequently landed her first spot the next day, soon, appearing in commercials for Citibank and L'Oreal. Minor roles on primetime series (for example, Strangers with Candy) and a handful of unremarkable films followed. Determined to get serious about her career, Pompeo moved to Los Angeles in 2001 and finally struck gold in 2002 when she was tapped by director Brad Silberling for a crucial role in his film Moonlight Mile.

Pompeo is currently starring in the ABC medical drama Grey's Anatomy. She was in the film Daredevil playing Matt Murdock's (Ben Affleck) secretary, but the scene she was in was deleted from the theatrical version of the film, She has starred in Old School as Nicole and Catch Me If You Can as Marci. Guest roles include two episodes of Law & Order and an episode of Friends.