Being one of the most popular TV hosts today, Ellen’s estimated net worth is around 360$ million.
However, in her amazing career she has shown her various talents that have brought her to where she is today.
Early life
Ellen Lee DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958 in Metairie, Louisiana. Her parents Betty, a speech therapist, and Elliot Everett DeGeneres, an insurance agent raised her and her brother Vence. Her parents separated in 1973, and Ellen’s mother married Roy Gruessendorf and moved to New Orleans.
She graduated from high school in 1976 and attended University of New Orleans. Ellen has majored in communication studies and left school after one semester. She then worked in a law firm as a clerk. Ellen also worked as a bartender and in J.C.Penney.
Stand-up career
Her first public performances were as a stand-up comedian. She performed in front of smaller audience and in 1981 she began performing at Clyde’s Comedy Club. Her biggest influence in stand-up comedy were Steve Martin and Woody Allen. During the 1980’s Ellen was touring nationally and in 1982 she got the label of the Showtime’s Funniest person in America.
Big screen career
Following her amazing success in stand-up comedy, Ellen started appearing on the big screen as well. Her first appearance was in the movie “Coneheads” and she also got her own show called “Ellen’s Energy Adventure”. This show was a part of the Walt Disney World’s Epcot.
“Ellen’s Energy Adventure” introduced Ellen as a character who falls asleep and wakes up in a show similar to Jeopardy. She then faced her opponent Albert Einstein, played by Curtis.
TV career
Although she had experience in comedy and movies, she showed her biggest talent as a TV star. Her first appearance on the TV was in the sitcom “Open House”. This show wasn’t too big of a success but the producers Neal Marlens and Carol Black noticed Ellen’s amazing talent and have casted her for the ABC show “These friends of mine”.
The show later on changed its name to “Ellen” and Ellen DeGeneres, due to her exceptional observational humor, was the star of the show.
The show had amazing success until 1997. Ellen then came out as a lesbian on the “Oprah Winfrey Show”. In the show itself, Ellen’s character came out in the episode “The Puppy Episode” and after this the ABC cut back on the promotion of the show.
Since her show was connected to Walt Disney, they were not particularly happy with homosexual references in the show. Only one year after she came out, her show was cancelled.
Ellen came back to television in 2001 with new CBS sitcom The Ellen Show. Only 2 years after this Ellen launched a show called The Ellen DeGeneres Show. The show turned out to be a great success and it was nominated 11 times for Daytime Emmy Awards for the first season and since then it has won 25 Emmy Awards.
Ellen gave her own mark to the show, combining her comedy and acting she kept on entertaining her audience with new and exciting content. Many celebrity guests have appeared on Ellen’s show since the beginning and it is now one of the most popular daytime talk shows around.
Ellen was also a member of the American Idol, where she replaced Paula Abdul as a judge. She was only a part of the show for few months. She renounced her appearance and claimed that it was not the right fit for her.
Ellen has also appeared as a host of many award shows like the Emmy Awards in 2001, Primetime Emmy Awards in 2005, 79th Academy Awards in 2006 and in 2014 she hosted the 86th Academy Awards.
She has also borrowed her voice for the character of Dory in an animated Disney/Pixar movie “Finding Nemo”. Sequel of the movie “Dory” premiered in 2016. Ellen also gave her voice to the character of the dog in Eddie Murphy movie “Dr.Dolittle”.
Personal life
Ellen came out as a lesbian in 1997 during the Oprah Winfrey Show. During that year her character on the show “Ellen” also came out, which caused the drawback of the show’s promotion and cancellation of the show.
Her sexual orientation and the judgment didn’t stopped Ellen from having a happy life. The same year she came out she announced her relationship with actress Anne Heche. The relationship lasted until 2000.
In 2004 Ellen announced her relationship with actress Portia de Rossi and after the same-sex marriage was legal in California, Ellen and Portia got married. They are still in a happy marriage.
Quick summary:
Full Name: Ellen Lee DeGeneres
Date of Birth: January 26, 1958
Birth Place: Metairie, Louisiana
Age: 59 years
Profession: TV host, actor, comedian, writer
Height: 1.71 m
Weight: 59 kg
Net worth: 360$ million
