Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born
January 26,
1958) is an
American actress,
stand-up comedian, and currently the
Emmy Award-winning host of the
syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.
Ellen DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958, at Ochsner Hospital in
Jefferson, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, to Elliot (insurance salesman) and Betty (real-estate agent). She is of
French,
English,
German and
Irish descent.
Along with her brother
Vance she was raised as a
Christian Scientist until the age of 13, when she left the religion after her parents
divorced. Shortly after the divorce DeGeneres and her mother moved from the
New Orleans area to
Atlanta,
Texas. She graduated from Atlanta High School on
May 21,
1976.
She moved back to New Orleans to attend the
University of New Orleans, where she
majored in
communications. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm. She also held a job selling clothes, including dresses, at the chain-store the
Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center in New Orleans. Other working experiences included a waitress at
TGI Friday's and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, a bartender, and an
oyster shucker. Finally, DeGeneres realized she didn't want to "answer to a boss" and started to figure out what she really wanted to do.
Stand-up comedy
Whenever DeGeneres' friends put together a show or party, she was asked to do a comedy routine. She did an act and was soon asked to perform as a stand-up comedian at small clubs and coffeehouses, and eventually became the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club (the only comedy place in
New Orleans at the time). While working at Clyde's in
1981, DeGeneres recorded her club performances.
After traveling around the
United States performing her comedy act, she was chosen in a national competition in
1982 by the
cable channel
Showtime as the funniest person in America. She then appeared on
late night television and comedy programs.
Soon afterward, DeGeneres was invited to perform on the
Tonight Show by booking agent/Producer
Jim McCawley for her first appearance in
1986. She was the first woman to ever be asked over to the couch to visit with
Johnny Carson on her first visit. Jim McCawley truly believed that she was going to be a hit and often spoke in praise of her when her name was mentioned.
She also appeared as a stand-up
comedian as early as on the
HBO Tenth Annual Young Comedians special, where she was introduced as an up-and-coming talent by Young Comedians show veteran
Harry Anderson.
Before getting her own show, DeGeneres began her television career on the short-lived TV sitcom
Open House (
1989-
1990) and
Laurie Hill (
1992).
DeGeneres has also performed two HBO stand-up specials. The first was called
Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning (
2000) and was taped live at the Beacon Theatre in
New York City. Her most recent one, which was taped in the same location, was entitled
Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now (
2003). After she began her talk show, Degeneres said she would no longer do stand-up shows and tours.
Ellen sitcom
DeGeneres rose to national attention when her material was turned into the subject matter for the successful
1994-
1998 sitcom,
Ellen (called
These Friends of Mine during its first season). The
ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres's style of quirky
observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female
Seinfeld."
Ellen reached its height of attention in April
1997 when DeGeneres (and her character on the show) came out of
the closet on national television and publicly declared that she was a
lesbian with
Oprah Winfrey playing her therapist. In spite of the controversy, or perhaps because of it, the
outing episode, entitled "The Puppy Episode," was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. As one of the first openly gay performers playing an openly gay character on television, she was all but forced into a role as a
gay rights activist. Her sitcom began to primarily focus on her character's relationship with another woman; and even the lesbian activist
Chastity Bono found the show to be "too gay". After sinking
ratings, the show was canceled, and DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit. Not forgetting the nosedive her lucrative network television show took, Ellen would later re-establish herself as a successful
talk show host, this time projecting no particular sexuality and avoiding the topic altogether. Ellen has inspired many other lesbians to come out of the closet and is a major influential figure.
Ellen's Energy Adventure
DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named
Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the
Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at
Walt Disney World's
Epcot. The film starring Ellen DeGeneres, also features
Bill Nye the Science Guy,
Alex Trebek,
Michael Richards, and
Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolves around DeGeneres falling asleep, and finding herself in an energy-themed version of
Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival (portrayed by Curtis) and
Albert Einstein. The next film has DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy - co hosted with
Bill Nye (the "science guy"). The ride first opened on
September 15,
1996, as
Ellen's Energy Crisis but was quickly renamed
Ellen's Energy Adventure.
The Ellen Show sitcom
DeGeneres returned to series TV in
2001 with a new
CBS sitcom,
The Ellen Show. Though her character was again a lesbian, it was not the central theme of the show. It received critical praise but low viewership and was canceled after one season.
Although her second sitcom was not a success, Ellen did receive wide exposure on
November 4,
2001, when she served as hostess of the
Emmy Awards-TV show. Presented following two cancellations due to fears that a showy ceremony would appear insensitive following the
September 11, 2001 attacks, the show required a newer, more somber tone that at the same time allowed viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres delivered this, receiving several standing ovations for her performance that evening. She memorably delivered the following line: "We're told to go on living our lives as usual, because to do otherwise is to let the
terrorists win, and really, what would upset the
Taliban more than a gay woman wearing a suit in front of a room full of
Jews?"
Voice acting
DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of "Dory," a fish with short-term
memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated
Disney/
Pixar film
Finding Nemo. (the film's director,
Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose her because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show) The movie returned DeGeneres to the limelight, with critics giving her rave reviews. She also narrated one of the highly successful
VH1 Divas shows.
Talk show and awards host
In September of
2003, DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Amid a crop of several talk shows surfacing in 2003 and hosted by high-profile
celebrities (including
Sharon Osbourne and
Rita Rudner), DeGeneres' show has consistently risen in the
Nielsen Ratings and received widespread critical praise. DeGeneres' show was nominated for eleven
Daytime Emmy Awards in its
freshman season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 15
Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air.
The Ellen DeGeneres Show is the first talk show in television history to win the Emmy for Outstanding Talk Show for its first three seasons on the air. Ellen is known for her dancing with the audience in the beginning of the show. On
November 17,
2005, Ellen's show was played in reverse, similar to the film
Memento.
Since November 2004, DeGeneres has appeared, dancing, in a new ad campaign for
American Express. Since May
2005, she has been a contributing
blogger at
The Huffington Post.
In August
2005, Ellen was selected once again as host of the
2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which was held on
September 18, 2005. (The awards show came three weeks after
Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, making it the second time Ellen hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. Because Ellen is from New Orleans, the tragedy literally hit close to home.) When she announced that she'd be again hosting the Emmys, she joked, "You know me, any excuse to put on a dress." She also hosted the
Grammy Awards in
1996 and in
1997.
Awards
Daytime Emmy Awards*2006 Outstanding Talk Show,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2006 Outstanding Talk Show Host,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2006 Outstanding Special Class Writing,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2005 Outstanding Talk Show,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2005 Outstanding Talk Show Host,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2005 Outstanding Special Class Writing,
The Ellen DeGeneres Show*2004 Outstanding Talk Show,
The Ellen DeGeneres ShowEmmy Awards*1997 Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series,
EllenPeople's Choice Awards*2006 Favorite Daytime Talk Show Host
*2006 Favorite Funny Female Star
*2005 Favorite Daytime Talk Show Host
*2005 Favorite Funny Female Star
Kids Choice Awards*2004 Favorite Voice from an animated movie,
Finding NemoDeGeneres' relationship with former
Another World actress
Anne Heche turned into material for the tabloid press. After several years in the spotlight, Heche broke up with DeGeneres and went on to marry male cameraman Coley Laffoon. DeGeneres then had a relationship with Actress/Director/Photographer
Alexandra Hedison. They appeared on the cover of
The Advocate magazine (ironically, after their split up had already been announced to the press). DeGeneres is now in a relationship with
Arrested Development and former
Ally McBeal star
Portia de Rossi, which began in 2004.
DeGeneres has one brother,
Vance, who made a guest appearance on
Ellen in
1994. Vance was also a correspondent for
The Daily Show from
1999 to
2001.
In her book,
Love, Ellen, DeGeneres' mother, Betty, describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has in fact become one of her strongest supporters. Betty DeGeneres is an active member of
PFLAG and spokesperson for the HRC Coming Out Project. She is also a
breast cancer survivor.[
1]
After Ellen came out as a lesbian, televangelist
Jerry Falwell referred to her in a sermon as "Ellen Degenerate."
Television
Partial filmography
Finding Nemo (
2003)
If These Walls Could Talk 2 (
2000)
The Love Letter (
1999)
Edtv (
1999)
Mr. Wrong (
1996)
Coneheads (
1993) - Swim Coach
Autobiography
My Point...And I Do Have One (
1995)
The Funny Thing Is... (
2003)
Discography
Ellen Degeneres: Taste This*
Ellen-DeGeneres.com Fansite*
The Ellen DeGeneres Show's official website*
DeGeneres talks about coming out experience, an April 1999 article about her appearance at the
University of Michigan*
A comic strip about DeGeneres and her "My Life, My Card" ads for American Express.
*
Ellen-cyclopedia*
Ellen FAQ
