Ellen Beatriz (Griffin) Dunne was born on January 28, 1932 in Tucson, Arizona United States to Thomas Francis Griffin and Beatriz E. Goodwin. She married Dominick John Dunne on April 24, 1954 and they later divorced in 1965. She had children Thomas Griffin Dunne, Alexander L. Dunne, Dominique Dunne, Dominique Ellen Dunne, and Beatriz Dunne. Ellen Dunne died at age 64 years old on January 9, 1997 in Nogales, and was buried in 1997 at City of Nogales Cemetery - in Nogales, Santa Cruz County.