First Appearance: June 9, 1940
Origin
When Ellen was in college, she came to visit her father, Commissioner Dolan, along with her fiance, Homer Creep. She asked her father if she could look through the mental ward to see some actual cases in preparation for an upcoming Psychology exam she had.
As she and Homer were looking at the different patients, Dr Cobra (who was recently apprehended thanks to The Spirit) got their attention. He claimed to be a great scientist and the police were always arresting him just as he was about to complete a major experiment. He asked them to have pity and help him escape. The naive Ellen agreed to help him, not realizing what a danger he actually was. Dr. Cobra had some men waiting for him outside and they quickly made way to one of his hideouts.
When the Comissioner realized his daughter was missing, he put his men on the case to search for her. The Spirit was listening in and agreed to help search for her. Forcing a thug to tell them where Dr. Cobra’s hideout was, the Spirit was able to defeat Dr. Cobra (again) and save Ellen (and Homer).
The Commissioner invited the Spirit to a dinner in honor of Ellen’s announcement of becoming engaged to Homer. The Spirit decided to give her a gift. He gave her a make-over (which simply involved removing her glasses and loosening her hair). Homer was amazed at her hidden beauty. The Spirit then claimed his reward for saving Ellen, a reward that consisted of a passionate kiss. That kiss was enough to make Ellen reconsider her engagement.
As Ellen’s character developed, she soon became fixated with winning the heart of the Spirit. She would cause situations the required the Spirit to save her in order to attract his attention. Later, Silk Satin became a rival for her and often coming between her and the Spirit.
Eventually, Ellen became a stronger and more independent woman. (In the November 12, 1950 strip) Ellen ran her own detective agency and ran for mayor of Central City and won. This put her father in the position where he had to answer to her!