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Ellen Leslye Cleghorne (born November 29, 1965) is an American actress and comedian. Cleghorne is best known for her tenure as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live from 1991 to 1995. She was the sketch comedy show's second African-American female repertory cast member, succeeding Danitra Vance in its eleventh season, and the first African-American female cast member to stay for more than one season. She returned for its 40th anniversary special on February 15, 2015. Cleghorne was ranked the 69th greatest Saturday Night Live cast member by Rolling Stone magazine.
In 1995, Cleghorne left SNL to star as single mother Ellen Carlson on Cleghorne!, a sitcom that aired for one season on The WB network, and which also starred fellow SNL alumnus Garrett Morris, and Sherri Shepherd in her first acting role. Cleghorne later said, "I don't think I was ready. In terms of being strong and saying, 'I can write, this is what I do,' and feel confident in that. And to be able to say, 'No, this does not work, this works better.'"
In 1993 and 1994, Cleghorne made appearances on the Nickelodeon children's TV show The Adventures of Pete and Pete playing a bus driver who served as the love interest of Pete's regular bus driver. She later appeared in independent films and comedies including Mr. Wrong (1996), Armageddon (1998), Coyote Ugly (2000), Little Nicky (2000), and Old School (2003). She has also had a series of skits played on Sirius XM Radio's Raw Dog Comedy channel.
Cleghorne was mentioned on a segment of the Family Guy DVD , when Stewie Griffin asks if "they ever found a suitable Star vehicle for Ellen Cleghorne." Seth MacFarlane claimed that she called the show's staff about the joke, which Cleghorne has denied.
In 2013, Cleghorne played Mary Fluzoo in Grown Ups 2.
In 2015, Cleghorne was one of the contestants for , finishing in 3rd place. The same year she appeared in the 40th anniversary special of Saturday Night Live, calling the experience "a cleansing".
In 2022, Cleghorne started voicing Mayor Sitwell for PBS animated series City Island.
In 2018, she played the role of Shaniqua in Second Act.
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