Claude Ellis, son of William Ellis and Gertrude Dawson Holbrook, was born in Regina on November 2, 1919. He received his public school education in Regina, attended the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon, and became a member of the teaching profession. In 1937 he won the Bryant Public Speaking Contest for Saskatchewan. While at University he won various debating cups and in 1948 was winner of the Dominion Debating Championship at Guelph, Ontario. He was twice prime minister in the University Parliamentary Forum and served one year as president of the university debating directorate.

He married Myrtle McClellan on July 11, 1942 and they had three sons.

He became an active worker in the CCF movement at age sixteen, serving as Provincial President of the Co-operative Commonwealth Youth Movement, and later as party leader on the University of Saskatchewan Campus, and National President of the Co-operative Commonwealth University Federation. He served the movement in many capacities - - speaker, organizer, campaign manager, constituency president, member of provincial and national councils, and as Member of Parliament for Regina. Ellis was first elected to the House of Commons in 1953, re-elected with an increased majority in 1957, but was defeated when Diefenbaker's Conservative Party swept to power in 1958. He again took up the NDP banner in the 1962 election. He died October 1, 1997.