Biography

Conductor, composer, arranger, saxophonist, clarinetist and record producer Ray Ellis has arranged for a dozen million-selling records. A student of the saxophone from age twelve, he learned all the reed instruments by age fifteen. By sixteen he began working with name bands, and joined the US Army during World War II during which he arranged for the Army Band at Fort Knox. Following his discharge he joined the staff of a Philadelphia radio station, and by the 1950s he was in New York arranging for the The Four Lads first recording sessions. By 1961 he signed an exclusive recording contract with RCA Victor.
- IMDb mini biography by: Louis Rugani

Composed most of the music for Filmation's cartoons from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, usually under the pseudonym "Yvette Blais" (in reality his wife's maiden name). Some of Ellis' earlier Filmation work was under the pseudonyms "George Blais" (his wife's brother's name), "Spencer Raymond" (his middle name followed by his first), "Marc Ellis" (the name of his son, who would later become a composer himself) or "Mark Jeffrey" (a combination of his two son's first names).

Father of Marc Ellis

Father of Jeffrey Ellis, an attorney in Los Angeles.

About his US Army musical work: That's where I got my musical education. I was put into the band and the men couldn't get away from my arrangements. Even if I wrote a bad one, I couldn't get fired.