All "Grey's Anatomy" viewers are almost as accustomed to hearing this sentence as the protagonist in the show - "Her mother is Ellis Grey." Meredith started out as a humble Surgery intern, but she has some extremely famous DNA, both a blessing and a curse. Viewers quickly discover that Ellis is not a doting mother but a cold, distant, work-obsessed, and sometimes unstable figure in Meredith's life. It's been a while since we've seen Ellis, who passed away after a long battle with Alzheimer's and other health complications. So what is Kate Burton's Ellis doing after Grey's Anatomy ? She remains focused on Shonda Rhimes' other projects.
According to her IMDb page, the 60-year-old actor shows no signs of stopping. She currently has two projects in post-production, both scheduled for release in 2017. She also spent significant time on ABC's "Scandal," which is also being directed by "Grey's Anatomy" showrunner Rhimes. There, she played the former vice president of the United States and shared screen time with Jeff Perry's Cyrus, another Grey's Anatomy alum who also played Margaret Thatcher, Meredith's father and Ellis' ex-husband.
In addition to television and film, Burton is a well-known stage actor. According to Playbill, she has performed on Broadway in productions such as "Present Laughter , " both original productions from 1982 and the most recent revival in 2017, which also starred Kevin Kline Kline and Cobie Smulders . Given Burton's repertoire, a return to the stage is no surprise. Playbill also reported in the same article that she was a three-time Tony Award winner for her performances in "Hedda Gabler," "The Elephant Man" and "The Constant Wife."
This fall, Burton added another addition to her resume — she became a professor and maestro at the USC School of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, according to another Flower List article. "I am extremely honored to join the University of Southern California and work with the incredible Dean Bridle to move the School of Theater Arts into new horizons," Burton said in a statement, according to the article. "Over the past few years, I have been able to work with the incredible Dean Bridle." I gained some valuable experience working with USC faculty, staff, and students, and I’m excited to be asked to join them in a deeper way.”
Burton holds multiple degrees himself, so academia seemed like another natural progression. Playbill reports that she earned a bachelor's degree in Russian studies and European history from Brown University and an MFA in acting from the Yale School of Drama. Talk about a qualified professor.
While Grey's Anatomy certainly wasn't her first or only career success, by any stretch of the imagination, Burton said she found Ellis to be a very interesting character because of her complexities and flaws. "The thing about Ellis is, she's a narcissist," Burton told The Hollywood Reporter in 2014.
"The truth is, at the end of the day, it's all about her. That's what makes her so fascinating to play, even though she has early-onset Alzheimer's. I find her always so interesting because even though I know she's A brilliant woman who had this terrible disease and the really most important thing in her life was her work."
Even though she's long gone from Grey's Anatomy, fans will still remember Ellis as a hugely important character - one who helped us understand the connection between Meredith and Maggie, as we It's been revealed in recent seasons that Ellis is also Maggie's mother - and she's given us some insight into why Meredith became Maggie's mother. It can get so "dark and twisty," as she puts it. She helps us understand some of Meredith's fears—of men, of motherhood, of success, of illness. And, it's learning about Meredith's past traumas that makes watching her continue to overcome them all the more meaningful.
