Childhood:Ellen DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958, at Ochsner Hospital in Jefferson, Louisiana, just outside New Orleans, Elliot DeGeneres, a salesman, and Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Pfeffer. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent.
Along with her brother Vance DeGeneres, actor and guitarist for the rock band Cowboy Mouth, 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 with her step-father Roy Gruessendorf. 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.
Friends & Relationships: She met Anne Heche at Variety magazine's Oscars party and they became partners in 1997. They announced it on the Oprah Winfrey show. They were seen together arm-in-arm at a White House press gathering talking to President Clinton. The two split up in 2000. DeGeneres then had a relationship with actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison. The couple appeared on the cover of The Advocate magazine (after their split-up had already been announced to the press). Since 2004, DeGeneres has been in a relationship with “Arrested Development” and former “Ally McBeal” star Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres and de Rossi currently live in Beverly Hills with three dogs and four cats. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on her May 16, 2008 talk show which had taped the preceding day that she and Portia de Rossi are engaged to be married.
Work: Whenever Ellens friends would put together a show or party, she was often asked to perform 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.
As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of "Dory" in the Pixar animated hit film Finding Nemo.
She played the lead role in the US ABC network sitcom Ellen which became famous when her lead character came out as gay. Also in 1997 Ellen DeGeneres herself also came out publicly as gay. Time magazine had her on the cover with the caption 'Yep, I'm gay'...
Following her coming out some people found Ellen to be more political and less funny. Elton John was quoted in an American magazine: 'We know you're a lesbian. Shut up! Be funny!” Chastity Bono said that the show was 'too gay'. Entertainment Weekly put Ellen DeGeneres on its cover with the caption 'Yep, she's too gay'. After five series the ABC network cancelled the show due to declining ratings. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and would later re-establish herself as a successful talk show host.
DeGeneres returned to series television 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. The Ellen Show received critical praise, but low viewership and was canceled after one season.
During this time DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001, when she hosted the Emmy Awards-TV show. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a posh ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening which included the 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 homosexual woman wearing a suit in front of a room full of Jews?"
In February 2006, DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.
DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA).
Parks struggle d with her sexuality from an early age,
but finally told her parents when she was gay at the age
of 15. "I'd been fighting with it for a while, you
think you are the only one and you think everyone's going
to hate you for it...My dad has always been really, really
supportive right from day one, my mum found it quite hard
to deal with to start with".
The Ellen DeGeneres Show: In September 2003, DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing in 2003 such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen Ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 15 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.
Greatest Achievements: American actress, stand-up comedian, and currently the host of the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, was voted Funniest Person in America in 1982 and received the 1991 Comedy Award for Best Female Club Standup.
Ellen DeGeneres was named Entertainer of the Year by Entertainment Weekly in 1997.
In August 2005, DeGeneres was selected once again as host of the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony, which was held on September 18, 2005. The award ceremonies aired three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. Because DeGeneres is from New Orleans, the tragedy hit close to home.
She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.
On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007. This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event.
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series - 1997 Ellen
Outstanding Talk Show - 2004 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Outstanding Special Class Writing - 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Outstanding Talk Show Host - 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2008 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
People's Choice Awards
- 2008 Favorite Daytime Talk Show Host
- 2008 Favorite Funny Female Star
- 2008 Favorite Yes I Chose This Star
- 2007 Favorite Daytime Talk Show Host
- 2007 Favorite Funny Female Star
- 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 Nemo
1st Annual Wave Awards, Academy of Wireless Arts, Video and Entertainment
- 2007 Favorite Talk Show Host, Ellen: On the Go!, Ellen DeGeneres & Sprint TV
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic 1991
Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special
1994 46th Primetime Emmy Awards
2000 Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning
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