Ellen DeGeneres Biography

NAME: Ellen DeGeneres

OCCUPATION: Animal Rights Activist, Comedian, Talk Show Host

BIRTH DATE: January 26, 1958 (Age: 53)

EDUCATION: Atlanta High School, Grace King High School, University of New Orleans

PLACE OF BIRTH: Metairie, Louisiana

Ellen Lee DeGeneres was born January 26, 1958 in New Orleans, Louisiana. She was the daughter of an insurance salesman and a working mother who were divorced when DeGeneres was a teenager. When she was growing up she dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but she gave up the idea because she was "not book smart." Instead, she waited tables, sold vacuum cleaners, painted houses, worked as a legal secretary.

DeGeneres' older brother, Vance, was the creator of the Play-Doh character "Mr. Bill" on the long-running NBC comedy skit program Saturday Night Live, and was long considered the humorous member of the family. Then once, during a public speaking event, DeGeneres found herself frightened by the crowd and used humor to get through the experience. She was a hit, and received offers to do stand-up comedy. She began performing in 1981, bolstered by her mother's moral and financial support.

Comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres was best known for her groundbreaking sitcom "Ellen" (ABC, 1994-98) and her lively daytime talk show "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" (syndicated, 2003- ), which earned multiple Daytime Emmy Awards for Best Talk Show and Best Talk Show Host. DeGeneres started her career as a stand-up comedian, eventually parlaying her deadpan, observational style into a sitcom which made TV history for the coming out of its main character - a gay Ellen both on and off screen. The controversial, groundbreaking move effectively spelled the end of DeGeneres' sitcom career in 1998, but the down-to-earth - if not a little neurotic - talent rebounded a few years later as the move-busting host of a talk show bursting with A-list celebrities and a boisterous audience full of soccer moms. The sparkling blue-eyed blonde was also well-liked as the host of both Emmy and Academy Awards telecasts. It was, in fact, hard to find anyone who did not like DeGeneres, such was her good-hearted nature both on and off screen, as well as her pride in her sexual orientation, but her refusal to force it in people's faces. She was the harmless, funny best friend everyone wished they could have and no amount of scandals - including a WGA strike picket-line crossing and the dramatic break-up of her often-chronicled relationship with actress Anne Heche - could tarnish the love fans held for the classy comic.