Portia de Rossi

Portia was married to documentary filmmaker, Mel Metcalfe, but the couple separated within three years of relationship as Mel had an extramarital affair.

As of her sexuality, Portia came out in public as a lesbian in 2005 and went on to marry Television host, comedian, producer and writer, Ellen DeGeneres, in 2008. They, however, later separated.

Portia was born on 31st January 1973 in Horsham regional city, in the Wimmera region of Western Victoria to Barry Rogers and Margaret Rogers, and raised in Geelong, Australia. Her father passed away when Portia was just nine years old and hence, her mother started working as a medical representative to raise Portia and her brother single- handed.

Portia was brought up in Grovedale, Geelong City, Australia. As her mother was struggling hard to provide for the family, Portia at a tender age of eleven commenced her career in the entertainment industry by performing as a model and an actress for Television commercials and print media.

After completing her graduation from Melbourne Girls Grammar school, Portia started to attend the University of Melbourne where she took up law, all the while pursuing her modelling and acting career.

Although she was a very hard-working and diligent student, but her performances in the television commercials caught the notice of a casting director and after auditioning she was selected to perform in the film ‘Sirens’ where she acted as Giddy, one of the three gorgeous models.

Portia has acted in several American sitcoms like ‘Too Something’ as Maria Hunter, ‘Nick Freno: Licensed Teacher’ as Elana Lewis and ‘Veronica’s Closet’ as Carolyn.

Portia has acted in the Television movie ‘Astoria’ and also performed as Lana Collinsin the television movie ‘Breed Apart’ and performed as guest star in the ‘Twilight Zone’ television series.

Portia shifted to California to consolidate her career in acting and got to play the role of a cold-hearted attorney Nelle Porter (the classic ‘Ice Queen’) in the legal comedy-drama television series titled ‘Ally McBeal’. This brought her a lot of exposure among the American audiences.

‘Ally McBeal’ provided Portia the right opportunity to showcase her acting talent. Portia along with the cast of the series won in 1999 the ‘Screen Actors Guild Awards’ for ‘Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy series’ category.

Rossi auditioned in 2003 for the role of Lindsay Bluth Funke in the American sitcom ‘Arrested Development’ and she was immediately chosen for it. The story of the sitcom is about Bluth family members who live a lavish lifestyle.

After her debut film ‘Sirens’, Portia shifted to Los Angeles to build her acting career. Since then she has featured in several films like ‘The Woman in the Moon’ as Shauna, in slasher film ‘Scream 2’ as Sorority Sister Murphy, in horror film ‘Stigmata’ as Jenniffer Kelliho, in action comedy film ‘Who is Cletis Tout’ as Tess Donnely, in comedy, horror movie ‘Dead & Breakfast’ as Kelly, in Drama movie ‘The Shift’ as Denise Moore and several others. Portia has performed as a narrator in the comedy ‘Now Add Honey’ as Beth Halloway.