Emmy Rossum

Emmanuelle Grey Rossum was born on September 12, 1986, in New York City. She is the only child of Cheryl Rossum, a single mother who worked as a corporate photographer. Her parents separated while her mother was pregnant, and as of 2007, she had met her father only twice.

Rossum's mother is of Russian Jewish descent, and her father is Protestant of English and Dutch ancestry. Rossum identifies as Jewish and has stated that her mother instilled in her the "Jewish code of ethics and morals". She was named for her maternal great-grandfather, whose first name was Emanuel, using the feminine spelling.

Upon singing "Happy Birthday" in all 12 keys, Rossum was welcomed to join the Metropolitan Opera Children's Chorus by chorus director Elena Doria at age seven. Over the course of five years she sang onstage with the chorus and had the chance to perform with singers such as Plácido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti. For anywhere from $5 to $10 a night, Rossum sang in six languages in 20 operas, including La bohème, Turandot, a Carnegie Hall presentation of La damnation de Faust, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. She also worked under the direction of Franco Zeffirelli in Carmen.

An increasing interest in pursuing acting led to taking classes with Flo Salant Greenberg of The New Actors Workshop in New York City. She has also worked with acting coach Terry Knickerbocker.

Rossum attended the Spence School, a private school in Manhattan, before dropping out to pursue career opportunities. She received her high school diploma at fifteen years old via online-extension courses offered by Stanford University's Education Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). She then enrolled at Columbia University, studying French, art history and philosophy.