Ellen DeGeneres

She has been in relationship with American actresses Anne Heche and Alexandra Hedison, before she married Australian actress Portia de Rossi on 16th August, 2008. This couple reside in the Beverly Hills, and have pet dogs and cats.

In 2010, Portia de Rossi followed legal procedures and changed her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

Both Ellen and Portia follow veganism, and the official site of her show ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’ even has a segment ‘Going Vegan With Ellen’ where she endorses ‘Meatless Mondays’ and also has recipes of vegan food items.

She was born on 26th January, 1958, to Betty DeGeneres and Elliott DeGeneres, in Metairie, Louisiana. She has a brother named Vance.

Her parents separated in 1974, and then her mother married Roy Gruessendorf. Ellen and her mother went to stay with Roy in Atlanta, Texas, while her brother stayed with her father Elliott.

She received education from institutions such as 'Grace King High School' and 'Atlanta High School'. Then she went back to New Orleans where she enrolled at the ‘University of New Orleans’ as a student of communication studies. However, she dropped out of studies and engaged in various jobs such as waitress, hostess, bartender, house painter.

Her first stand-up comedy performances were at coffee houses and clubs. In early 1980s, she became the ‘emcee’ (Master of Ceremonies) at the ‘Clyde's Comedy Club’ in New Orleans.

During the same time, she travelled to different nations and was also titled as the ‘Funniest Person in America’ by the American television network ‘Showtime’.

In 1986, she was seen at the ‘The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson’ where the host cited similarities between her and the famous American stand-up comedian Bob Newhart. She was the first comedienne to have been invited to the talk show.

In 1989, she appeared in a sitcom ‘Open House’ which was aired on Fox channel. She also worked in films such as ‘Ellen’s Energy Adventure’ and ‘Coneheads’.

In 1992, she worked in a sitcom ‘Laurie Hill’ where she played a character named Nurse Nancy MacIntyre. Although the show was wrapped up after four episodes, her performance was appreciated, and earned her a new show ‘These Friends of Mine’.

This impressive presenter’s most famous and long running show is ‘The Ellen DeGeneres Show’, which was launched in 2003. This show has earned several ‘Emmy Awards’ in categories such as ‘Outstanding Talk Show’, ‘Outstanding Talk Show Host’, ‘Outstanding Special Class Writing’.