Born Ella Wallace Raubes around Snoqualmie Falls, Washington, Raines studied drama at the University of Washington and was appearing in the play there after she was seen by Howard Hawkes. She became a number 1 actor signed to a newly production company he experienced formed by using the actor Charles Boyer, "B-H Productions", and mass produced her film debut inside Corvette K-225 in 1943. Her more films include Phantom Lady, Hail the Conquering Hero, Tall in the Saddle, Enter Arsene Lupin and The Suspect (all 1944), The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947), Impact and A Dangerous Profession (both 1949) & her final film The Man in the Road (1957).

When you took 1954 she starred in her have television series Janet Dean, Registered Nurse. She besides appeared inside such television series when Robert Montgomery Presents, Douglas Fairbanks Jr. Presents, Lights Out, Pulitzer Prize Playhouse and The Christophers.

She retired within 1957 and for the rest of her life worked as an acting teacher. Her merely appearance before of the cameras when her retirement was the guest role in the series Matt Houston in 1984.

She died from either throat cancer in Sherman Oaks, California.

Ella Raines has 2 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures at 7021 Hollywood Boulevard, and for television at 6600 Hollywood Boulevard.