Elaine Arnett, who crammed two wildly disparate careers into one lifetime — she was a county social worker as well as a singer, dancer, and character actor in a host of Santa Barbara productions — died at Mission Terrace on Sunday, December 8 after a four-month-long battle with cancer. She was 79 years old.
During 33 years as a social worker with the Santa Barbara County Department of Social Services, Elaine defended the rights of abandoned and abused children and advocated for a better life for them. A teen survivor herself, she empathized with the plight of vulnerable young people and helped rescue hundreds of them from violence and neglect.
Simultaneously, Elaine sought relief and found joy in the make-believe world of the arts, appearing onstage in choruses, corps de ballet, and supporting roles during more than half a century in Santa Barbara, right up until she fell ill this summer. In short, she was one of the unsung, unpaid, and indispensable troops who bring the regional arts to life.