elbrick was born in louisville, kentucky, the son of charles elbrick and his irish wife lillian burke, and raised as a roman catholic. transferring after a freshman year at the university of notre dame, he graduated with a bachelor of arts degree from williams college in 1929, narrowly missing selection for a rhodes scholarship. he had aimed to begin a career in publishing in new york, but the wall street crash of 1929 persuaded him to work instead for the us government. he therefore studied languages to prepare for a career with the united states department of state.