Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen Lee DeGeneres, born January 26, 1958, is an American comedian, actress, television host, writer, and producer whose career stretched from small clubs in New Orleans to some of the most watched stages in American television. She began performing stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, and by 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde’s Comedy Club in New Orleans. In 1984, she was named Showtime’s funniest person in America, and in 1986 she gained national attention with an appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.

DeGeneres became a major television figure through the sitcom Ellen, which ran from 1994 to 1998, and later The Ellen Show, which ran from 2001 to 2002. In April 1997, she publicly came out as a lesbian on the cover of Time with the words “Yep, I’m gay.” After “The Puppy Episode,” her character became the first openly gay lead character on an American network television show. She went on to host The Ellen DeGeneres Show from 2003 to 2022, winning 33 Daytime Emmy Awards for the syndicated talk show.

Her work also reached film audiences. DeGeneres appeared in Mr. Wrong, EDtv, and The Love Letter, but her best-known film role was the voice of Dory, the friendly fish with short-term memory loss, in Finding Nemo in 2003 and Finding Dory in 2016. She received several honors for that performance, including a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress. She also released stand-up specials including The Beginning, Here and Now, Relatable, and For Your Approval, and hosted major awards ceremonies including the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and Primetime Emmy Awards.

DeGeneres was born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana, to Betty, a speech therapist, and Elliott DeGeneres, an insurance agent. Her brother, Vance, became a musician and producer. Her parents separated in 1973 and divorced the next year, after which she moved with her mother and stepfather to Atlanta, Texas. She graduated from Atlanta High School in 1976, attended the University of New Orleans for one semester as a communication studies major, then left school and worked a series of jobs, including clerical work, waitressing, painting houses, hosting, and bartending. She has related much of her childhood and career experience in her comedy.

Her life also included painful experiences. As a teenager, DeGeneres was molested by her stepfather, and when she later told her mother, she was not believed at first. Her mother eventually realized that DeGeneres had been telling the truth. As a comedian, DeGeneres cited Woody Allen, Steve Martin, Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, and Bob Newhart among her influences. Her public voice often mixed understatement, observation, and an interest in how people see one another, a quality echoed in her line, “Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.”

Across her career, DeGeneres received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, 20 People’s Choice Awards, the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016, and the Carol Burnett Award in 2020 for her contributions to television. She also authored four books, founded the record label eleveneleven and the production company A Very Good Production, and launched the lifestyle brand ED Ellen DeGeneres. In 2021, she announced the end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show following multiple allegations of workplace bullying, internal investigations, and a sharp decline in public support. In 2024, that controversy culminated in her decision to retire from show business. Her words still draw attention because they come from a career lived in public, through comedy, disclosure, success, and scrutiny.