 Ellin was educated at Brooklyn College and received a Bachelor of Arts in 1936 when he was 19 years old.He married Jeanne Michael, a freelance editor and former classmate, in 1937; they had one daughter, Sue Ellin (Mrs. William Jacobsen), and a granddaughter, Tae Ellin.Apart from some travel abroad and some time spent in Miami Beach, Florida, he lived his entire life in Brooklyn.