History Creator / EllenMcLain

* ToughActToFollow: [[invoked]] She and everyone at Valve very much felt this way about the original ''Portal'' while they were making the sequel.

She is married to John Patrick Lowrie, also a voice actor who has done extensive work with Valve, and it was him who encouraged her to get into voice-over work. Her training on the stage - and, most importantly, her skill in acting ''and'' singing - made her perfectly suited to play the character of [=GLaDOS=], a role which has brought her great praise.

In addition to continuing to work in theatrical productions, she is now a permanent member of the Valve repertory, having appeared in all of their games since ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''. Surprisingly, and despite her popularity and critical acclaim, she's done little voice acting outside of her work with Valve.

* The Combine Overwatch from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' and ''VideoGame/HalfLifeALyx''.

* The Combine Overwatch from ''VideoGame/HalfLife2''.

She is married to JohnPatrickLowrie, also a voice actor who has done extensive work with Valve, and it was him who encouraged her to get into voice-over work. Her training on the stage - and, most importantly, her skill in acting ''and'' singing - made her perfectly suited to play the character of [=GLaDOS=], a role which has brought her great praise.

She is married to Creator/JohnPatrickLowrie, also a voice actor who has done extensive work with Valve, and it was he who encouraged her to get into voice-over work. Her training on the stage - and, most importantly, her skill in acting ''and'' singing - made her perfectly suited to play the character of [=GLaDOS=], a role which has brought her great praise.

* [=GLaDOS=] in Videogame/LEGODimensions

!!Tropes for Ellen [=McLain=]:
* CoolOldLady: [[SelfDeprecation No matter what she says]], she's too young to qualify for this trope. She's definitely a Cool Middle-Aged Lady, though.
* DeadpanSnarker: She has claimed to share [=GLaDOS=]' love for sarcasm, which helps explain the character's aptitude for it.
* EvilLaugh: She ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is7DQRoFcz0 herself]]'' has one, as heard on her commentary for ''Portal''. Many commenters on Website/YouTube have claimed that it makes her sound ''creepier than [=GLaDOS=]''.
* EvilLawyerJoke: As far as she's concerned, everybody working at Valve is an artist. Except maybe the lawyers. But hey, [[SomeOfMyBestFriendsAreX some of her best friends are lawyers]]!
* HappilyMarried
* LargeHam: As the Administrator.
* ShoutOut: Unfailingly sings the praises of the following people working on ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', in every interview she gives: Bill van Buren (producer); [[Website/OldManMurray Erik Wolpaw, Chet Faliszek]], and Jay Pinkerton (writers); and Mike Morasky (composer). She apparently did this so much in her ''Portal 2'' commentary that it was shelved for fear of seeming too self-congratulatory on the part of Creator/{{Valve|Software}}.

* WackyMarriageProposal: As noted above, she provided her voice as [=GLaDOS=], [[AwesomeDearBoy free of charge]], for [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8SdYz7cq04 the Gary Hudston Project]].
* WordOfStPaul: Because she was made privy to the story of ''Portal 2'' throughout its development, she's been able to [[IKnewIt confirm]] or [[{{Jossed}} deny]] [[WildMassGuessing fan theories]]. For example, she's the one who officially revealed that [[spoiler:Caroline is the woman in the picture with Cave Johnson]].

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: By all accounts, she is a genuinely sweet person.
** [[http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2011/05/chellandgladosvas599px.jpg The only time you'll ever see GLaDOS and Chell getting along]].
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8SdYz7cq04 And she's more than willing to give back to her fans. (Yes, that's really her.)]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a287p3EH95E In fact, she seems to love her fans in general.]]
** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPvt8ZYSEAc&feature=related She]] ''and'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vhNWzK_yGA&feature=related her husband love us.]]

* ShoutOut: Unfailingly sings the praises of the following people working on ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'', in every interview she gives: Bill van Buren (producer); [[OldManMurray Erik Wolpaw, Chet Faliszek]], and Jay Pinkerton (writers); and Mike Morasky (composer). She apparently did this so much in her ''Portal 2'' commentary that it was shelved for fear of seeming too self-congratulatory on the part of Creator/{{Valve|Software}}.

In addition to continuing to work in theatrical productions, she is now a permanent member of the Valve repertory, having appeared in all of their games since ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}''. Surprisingly, and despite her popularity and critical acclaim, she's done little voice acting outside of her work with Valve.

* The Combine Overwatch from ''VideoGame/{{Half-Life 2}}''.

* MeanCharacterNiceActor: By all accounts she is a genuinely sweet person.

[[http://ellenmclain.net/ Ellen McLain]] is an [[{{Opera}} operatic soprano]], stage actress, and voice-over artist, who is most famous in the latter field for her work with Creator/{{Valve|Software}}, and in particular for her portrayal of SelfDemonstrating/GLaDOS, the BreakoutCharacter and FountainOfMemes from the ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' series.

She is married to John Patrick Lowrie, also a voice actor who has done extensive work with Valve, and it was he who encouraged her to get into voice-over work. Her training on the stage - and, most importantly, her skill in acting ''and'' singing - made her perfectly suited to play the character of [=GLaDOS=], a role which has brought her great praise.

Her [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSU4YBkZtSs commentary track]] for ''Portal'' is a great listen, and forever endeared her to the game's fanbase. Also, a very good [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR2UyCwtj-U full-length interview can be found here]]. She performed her two ''Portal'' songs, "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVgXSB4_sTU Want You Gone]]" and "[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAI6Q_GyFSU Still Alive]]", live for the very first time at the Midwest Anime Convention on July 16, 2011, accompanied by Lowrie on banjo, with the two of them leading a [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9c8QJB5kfPs sing-along]] the following day.

* ActorAllusion: She's clearly doing the [=GLaDOS=] voice as the AI in ''Film/PacificRim''. This is intentional, as director Creator/GuillermoDelToro is a huge Valve fan (as are his kids), and asked special permission to use the character's distinctive (i.e. copyrightable) quirks in his film. Valve even gave him the proprietary voice filter techniques to do [=GLaDOS=] perfectly, though he ended up using something a bit more original.
* TheCastShowoff: Yes, she really can sing. (Voice acting is actually a side job to her singing career.)

* TheDanza: The Administrator's real name is Helen, which sounds nearly identical to Ellen in most dialects of English.

* MoneyDearBoy: She's made no bones about the fact that she's in voice acting for the money. That doesn't stop her from feeling creatively fulfilled when she hits upon [[SelfDemonstrating/{{GLaDOS}} the right role]], of course.

* GLaDOS and the Turrets from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.
* GLaDOS in ''Videogame/DefenseGridTheAwakening''
* GLaDOS in Videogame/LEGODimensions

* ActorAllusion: She's clearly doing the GLaDOS voice as the AI in ''Film/PacificRim''. This is intentional, as director Creator/GuillermoDelToro is a huge Valve fan (as are his kids), and asked special permission to use the character's distinctive (i.e. copyrightable) quirks in his film. Valve even gave him the proprietary voice filter techniques to do GLaDOS perfectly, though he ended up using something a bit more original.

* GLaDOS, the Turrets, and [[spoiler: Caroline]] from ''VideoGame/{{Portal}}'' and ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}''.

She and Lowrie have been far more active in the convention circuit as of late, appearing all over the United States (and even in the UK) since the summer of 2011. [=McLain=] continues to appear in VideoGames, and is gradually spreading her wings beyond Valve; it has been confirmed that she will appear in the new game by the creators of SpaceQuest (along with Lowrie) due to their sharing the same agent.

* MoneyDearBoy: She's made no bones about the fact that she's in voice acting for the money. That doesn't stop her from feeling creatively fulfilled when she hits upon [[GLaDOS the right role]], of course.

* WordOfDante: Because she was made privy to the story of ''Portal 2'' throughout its development, she's been able to [[IKnewIt confirm]] or [[{{Jossed}} deny]] [[WildMassGuessing fan theories]]. For example, she's the one who officially revealed that [[spoiler:Caroline is the woman in the picture with Cave Johnson]].

* WordOfGod: Because she was made privy to the story of ''Portal 2'' throughout its development, she's been able to [[IKnewIt confirm]] or [[{{Jossed}} deny]] [[WildMassGuessing fan theories]]. For example, she's the one who officially revealed that [[spoiler:Caroline is the woman in the picture with Cave Johnson]].