Ellis was born in Harvey, Illinois,[6] near Chicago, the son of Jackie Ellis and Tommie Lee Thompson.[7][8] When Ellis and his siblings were young, their mother, a single parent after her divorce, broke down after the death of her brother. Ellis and his siblings became wards of the state, and later were raised in Bessemer, Alabama, by their maternal grandmother. He was diagnosed with dyslexia in second grade.[9]
Ellis began his acting career in the early 2000s, with a role in the short filmLost. In 2005, he starred in the television filmWarm Springs. From 2005 to 2006, he played the recurring role of Carter Howard in the television series The Inside. He followed this up with guest roles in Veronica Mars and Without a Trace, both in 2007.
In mid-2007, Ellis was cast as Lafayette Reynolds in the pilot for True Blood, as a short-order cook at Merlotte's Bar & Grill, a drug dealer, a member of Jason Stackhouse's road crew, and Tara Thornton's cousin. The pilot was shot in the early summer of 2007 and was officially ordered to series in August.[16] Production on the series began later that fall.[17]
In casting Lafayette Reynolds, Alan Ball had concerns because the character's homosexuality would be a dominating trait. He said "you don't want to bring in someone who's going to play that in a phony way".[18] Nelsan Ellis said that it took him a few episodes to find the character.[19] Ellis has said that he based many of Lafayette's mannerisms on his mother and his sister, and that the costuming also helped him to get into character.[18] He told The Philadelphia Inquirer:
I have more makeup on than any of the females in the cast. Once they get me with the fake eyelashes and the eye makeup, I listen to some Rihanna and I'm there.
True Blood premiered on September 7, 2008, and concluded on August 24, 2014, comprising seven seasons and 80 episodes.[20][21] In 2008, Ellis received a Satellite Award from the International Press Academy for best supporting actor in a television series for his role as Lafayette Reynolds.[22] In 2009, he was nominated for a Scream Award for Best Supporting Actor.[23] In 2011, he won the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for his performance in True Blood.[24]
From 2016 to 2017, Ellis starred as Shinwell Johnson in the TV series Elementary.[3] His character dies near the end of Season 5. The first episode to air after Ellis' death, the season 6 premiere, ended with the screen "In Memory of Our Friend Nelsan Ellis". His final acting role was in True to the Game, which was released posthumously.[5]
Death
Ellis died at the age of 39 on July 8, 2017, in Woodhull Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York.[31][32][33] His family released a statement on July 10, 2017, saying that he had an ongoing struggle with drug and alcohol abuse. He had been reluctant to talk to anyone about his addiction because of his sense of shame. In the days prior to his death, Ellis was attempting to withdraw from alcohol on his own; he was hospitalized due to serious complications from alcohol withdrawal syndrome, which resulted in his death.[34][35][36] Ellis was survived by his son, Breon Ellis.[37]
Awards and nominations
While at Juilliard, Ellis wrote a semi-autobiographical play entitled Ugly, which was performed at the school and later won the Lincoln Center's Martin E. Segal Award. The play was influenced by his pregnant sister's murder at the hands of her husband.[38]
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