Who is Elaine Lively? Blake lively thanks mom in touching tribute

During her address at the 2025 Time 100 Gala, Blake Lively paid a heartfelt tribute to her mother, Elaine Lively, recounting an account of survival that deeply affected her life. Sharing a story of resilience and strength, the former Gossip Girl star noted that her mother not only shaped her career but also saved her life.

Blake, while giving her speech, disclosed that Elaine Lively experienced an attempted murder years before Blake’s birth.

“My mom never got justice from her work acquaintance who attempted to take her life when she was the mother of three young kids — years before I was born,” Blake said at the gala.

Blake remarked that Elaine’s survival depended on another woman’s testimony over the radio, claiming that it inspired her mother to live and fight on.

“I am here, my mom is here, because that woman not only survived, but she told others how,” Blake shared in her speech.

Elaine Lively is a former actress and is currently a child actor’s talent manager. Born Willie Elian McAlpin on June 11, 1947, she hails from the small town of Tallapoosa, Georgia. Raised in a house built by her father for the family – modest, with no heating or air conditioning – her life was filled with physically demanding tasks, her early life a practical lesson in survival.

Elaine Lively is best known for her role as the character in the 1993 video game, Return to Zork.

Blake has often noted her mother’s impact on her life. For instance, in a Vogue interview in July 2014, she mentioned,

“She worked in the fields from sun-up to sundown, from the time she could walk. She’s strong as an ox.”

While recounting her presence at the Time 100 Gala, she described how Elaine remained unfailingly optimistic, saying,

“an eternal optimist who is always leaving me messages, hoopin’ and hollerin’ sayin’, ‘Life’s just a bowl of cherries.'"

Elaine Lively- a mother, mentor, and survivor

In 1979, Elaine Lively married Ernie Lively, who was already an actor at the time. The couple raised five children together, all of whom became actors. From a prior marriage, Elaine brought three children: Lori, Jason, and Robyn. She and Ernie welcomed Eric (1981) and Blake (1987). Ernie died in 2021.

Through Blake, we get more proof that Elaine Lively also passed on creativity and the love for food. 'Food to me is love,”

In her 2014 Vogue interview, Blake said:

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"When the whole family comes together, my mom makes a big meal, usually a family dish that was passed down."

Aside from her cooking, Elaine, who worked as a talent manager, strongly influenced her children’s career choices. Her legacy is especially visible through the daughter who stood beside her on one of the proudest nights of their lives.

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