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ow Ellery really looks is a question that remains unanswered. The nephews themselves seem partly responsable for the confusion as they made several changes to their creation during his 'existance'. Far from what one would expect very little is told about Ellery himself, far less than what is told about the suspects e.g. With the possible exception of the forewords by JJMcC whos facts never were sustained by the stories themselves. In them Ellery is described as a tall athletic man with the suggestion of force, looked very intelligent around the forehead had long thing fingers and cool stiff lips. He looked thirty but was actually younger. Ellery has nasty smoking habits: he smokes a pipe and is often surrounded with cigarettesmoke. He even has been known to smoke cigars 'cautiously' ¹. Although in one of the books he emphasizes that research on cancer in laboratories is being stepped up.

As to his affinity to food it may surprise you to hear that in 'The Roman Hat' Ellery is described as 'fanatically interested in the delicate subject of foods and their preparation'.¹  He ends up drinking café au lait.
For breakfast both father and son stick to the eggs and coffee... So when we look at the opus as a whole Ellery's fanatic interest in food surely has to be confirmed...

A look at our hero's medical history. Ellery had appendicitis, was hospitalized in Adirondacks and was several weeks out. After the ski accident (late 1963, in the Mahoganies, Wrightsville) Ellery was treated in the private pavillion of the Swedish-Norwegian Hospital in Murray Hill. The 'genial' Dr.Johanneson treated Ellery's legs which had been put in casts. A technique Dr.Johanneson had invented. Ellery can't stand the sight of blood.
He remained a bachelor who has his own vue on marriage. Although he has been known to go to Florence were he bought a ring. JJMcC made it clear Ellery was married and had a son. He met his wife during The Case of the Mimic Murders. As a writer Ellery is said to have written the manuscript of the Murder of the Marionettes or The Affair of the Black Widow under his own name. JJMcC several times refers to Ellery's habit of publishing stories under his own name. Most stories are written in hasty circumstances and frequently tossed aside due to his involvement in 'real' Ellery Queen cases'. Ellery received a telegram from Hollywood and sends them a story.
An Ellery Queen detective agency was founded by Beau Rummell. Despite his moustache he impersonated Ellery on two occasions.

llery may have started off as a pince-nezed snob he didn't stay
that way. This change came about through the influence of the other media (magazines, movies, radio and tv).His early days were punctuated by an arrogance that gave way to a sense of humor. The writers made him more human and thus fallable. He even admits what the reader has known from the start - that the human factor in his cases is as important as the logic and deduction - and begins to lighten up. The pince-nez disappears, and there's more humor in the books, peaking with the two novels set during Ellery's (frustrating) stint as a Hollywood writer: The Devil to Pay (1938) and The Four of Hearts (1938). While a dabbler, he is able to move in the professional and private detective arenas because of his father's position. He is welcomed on the scene of crimes and has access to clues and witnesses.  He also has the freedom of a private detective in that he can choose his cases.  His chief occupation became that of mystery writer: he solves crimes in the side and  uses them as bases for his novels.  He is a romantic but not a romancer; earthly but not playboy. He loves books but is interested in people too.  During this metamorphosis only a few things remained. He's still in his early 30s, tall, slender, with brown hair and gray eyes, mildly intellectual and addicted to cigarets and logic.

adio had understandably less problems with the 'image' they portrayed. Strangely enough Ellery and the inspector often looked a lot like the original descriptions in the books. Hugh Marlowe e.g. was called a perfect casting by Dannay himself! Careful consideration was given to the portrayal of the 'true' father son relation on radio. Comics had more moodswings and Ellery was portrayed in different ways (with or without glasses). If we would take any of the comics and put them in a line-up with other figures it would be far from easy to pick the right Ellery!

(Continued here...)