The wonderfully deadpan Ellen DeGeneres began her stand-up career in her native New Orleans, with her first act consisting of consuming a Whopper, fries and a shake. She soon developed her distinctive comedy style: quirky, observational humor grounded in understatement and punctuated with pregnant pauses. One year into her career, a videotape of her comedy club performances sent in to a nationwide search by the cable network Showtime earned her the title of “Funniest Person in America”, enabling her to tour the country, further refine her act, and create one of her signature pieces “a phone call to God”, a monologue about mortality which landed her a spot on Johnny Carson’s “The Tonight Show” (NBC) in 1986. The erstwhile ‘king of late-night’ was so taken with the young comic that he invited her over to the couch. Legend has it that this was the first such occurrence for a female comic on her virgin appearance.
DeGeneres began showing up frequently on the small screen, appearing in several HBO comedy specials and playing the regular role of the wisecracking, man-hungry receptionist in the Fox sitcom “Duet” (1988-89) and its spin-off “Open House” (1989-90). She returned to series TV for another try playing a flaky nurse on the short-lived sitcom “Laurie Hill” (ABC, 1992). After these false starts, DeGeneres finally came into her own leading the ensemble of “These Friends of Mine” (ABC, 1994). Though readily embraced by viewers–it ranked third for the week after its first airing–many critics dismissed it as a distaff “Seinfeld” clone due to its structural similarities and comparable collaborative feel (e.g., “Seinfeld” starred three men and one woman while “These Friends” starred three women and one guy). Eventually retooled to focus more on DeGeneres and her stand-up persona, the show returned sans a few cast members as the less clunky “Ellen” (ABC, 1994-98).
Rewarded for its decision to showcase DeGeneres, this second incarnation garnered her four Emmy nominations as Best Actress while capturing her the statue in 1997 for her scripting contributions to the infamous “coming out” show entitled “The Puppy Episode”. All along, there had been speculation about the character’s sexuality which reached a fever pitch that season with TV Guide leaking the story that the producers were working on having the lead disclose her lesbianism. DeGeneres fueled this speculation by appearing on several talk shows and coyly deflecting the question and building in-jokes into the show’s scripts. In April 1997, she herself came out in a Time magazine cover story and in a two-part interview with Diane Sawyer prior to the episode of April 30, 1997, which attracted more than 36 million viewers anxious to see TV history made when her character Ellen Morgan disclosed her homosexuality, thereby becoming the first openly gay lead in a series.
Unfortunately, her “coming out” spelled the end of the sitcom. The “suits” (executives at ABC) frequently saddled the show with warnings (i.e., “This program contains adult content. Parental discretion is advised”), and Chrysler and J.C. Penney temporarily withdrew their sponsorship. Though there was truth to DeGeneres’ claims that the network knuckled under to pressure from the Christian Right (Jerry Falwell referred to her as ‘Ellen DeGenerate’) and quit supporting the series, conventional wisdom cited that the light touch which had made her a perfect primetime crusader in the first place disappeared when the show became more politicized and issue-oriented. Elton John may have said it best: “We know you’re a lesbian. Shut up! Just be funny!” A year after the historic episode, in the wake of diminishing ratings (averaging just over 12 million viewers), ABC pulled the plug on “Ellen”, and DeGeneres and her then-lover Anne Heche, having promoted themselves as standard-bearers for homosexual equality, felt the backlash of conservatism circling the wagons in defense of the bottom line.
DeGeneres, whose first attempt to transfer her TV persona to the big screen (“Mr. Wrong” 1996) failed to excite audiences, didn’t fare much better with Roland Joffe’s “Goodbye Lover” (lensed in 1997; shown at Cannes in 1998; released in 1999), turning in an unappealing portrayal as a wisecracking detective. Following her show’s demise, she eventually managed to land some big screen roles, despite the fact that many doors remained closed to her because of her outspoken activism. DeGeneres scored points for her humorous portrayal of the TV producer who comes up with the idea of televising Matthew McConaughey’s life in Ron Howard’s “EDtv” (1999), her line to boss Rob Reiner about their network’s position apropos the Gardening Cannel (“People would rather watch soil”) perfect for her classic deadpan delivery. She also got to reveal a girlishly romantic streak beneath her cynical facade for that year’s “The Love Letter”. She went on to be directed by her then Heche in “Miss Conception”, a segment of HBO’s “If These Walls Could Talk 2″ (2000) featuring DeGeneres and Sharon Stone as a lesbian couple attempting to have a child.
Gradually, DeGeneres was wooed to return to network sitcoms. Testing the waters, she embarked on a national comedy tour that included the well-received Emmy-nominated 2000 HBO special “Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning”. CBS made a commitment to the performer and after several abortive attempts, she returned to the weekly grind as executive producer and star of the critically admired but ratings-impaired “The Ellen Show” (CBS, 2001-2002), playing a lesbian who returns to hometown. While her career seemed to be back on an upswing, DeGeneres’ personal life once again became tabloid fodder when she and Heche ended their relationship in August 2000. Heche had been working on a behind-the-scenes documentary about their life and DeGeneres’ stand-up tour, but it is doubtful that material will ever see the light of day, particularly after Heche made outrageous claims in her memoirs that she was “insane” for much of her life and that it was the love of her new (male) husband that saved her. DeGeneres wisely took the high road and refused to comment on her private life. Between series gigs DeGeneres busied herself with several high-profile event hosting gigs which reminded audiences of her rapier wit, including the VH1 Fashion Awards (1998), the My VH1 Music Awards (2000 and 2001), VH1 Divas Las Vegas (2002) and she was particularly adept at hosting the 53rd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2001 and 2005), expecially considering both her hosting stints came on the heels of national tragedies–9/11 and Hurricane Katrina. Her performances often resulted in her own subsequent awards nominations.
The year 2003 provided to be an enviable era for the comedienne, who launched a comeback by re-establishing her stand-up credentials with a much-praised HBO special “Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now.” Next she memorably voiced the lovable if frustratingly forgetful fish Dory in the biggest (and best-reviewed) hit of that summer, Disney/Pixar’s endearing CGI film “Finding Nemo” (2003). That fall, she launched her own syndicated daytime chat fest “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” (2003 – ), which debuted to strong ratings and positive word-of-mouth and ably filled the aimiable talk show void left by Rosie O’Donnell. DeGeneres won two consecutive Daytime Emmys for Outstanding Talk Show in 2004 and 2005, and was named Best Talk Show Host in 2005. That same year she was tapped as the host for the 57th annual Emmy Awards.
- Born:
on 01/26/58 in New Orleans, Louisiana
- Job Titles:
Actor, Comedian, Comedy writer, Screenwriter, Bartender, House painter, Oyster shucker, Vacuum salesman
Family
- Brother: Vance DeGeneres. born c 1954; first big break came as part of the creative team for “The Mr. Bill Show”, originally submitted to “Saturday Night Live” (NBC) by his New Orleans roommate Walter Williams and him as a comic home movie; wrote several episodes for the fantasy kid series “Eerie, Indiana” and the 1994 Emmy Awards; also wrote for “Ellen” during the “coming out” season; later was correspondent on the Jon Stewart hosted “The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
- Father: Elliott DeGeneres. divorced from DeGeneres’ mother
- Mother: Betty DeGeneres. divorced from DeGeneres’ father; had a brief marriage after she dropped out of college prior to wedding Elliott; became first non-gay spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign’s Coming Out Project, which battles homophobia, in 1997
- Step-father: crude-talking Texan referred to simply as “B” in Betty DeGeneres’ “Love, Ellen: A Mother/Daughter Journey” (1999); Betty left him and remarried him, finally leaving him for good in 1990; made two sexual advances on Ellen when she was teen, about which Ellen did not tell her mother until 1981; deceased
- Step-mother: previously married; had two daughters; DeGeneres has said that her stepmother and father threw her out of the house when she came out as a lesbian, saying she would be a bad influence on her young stepsisters
- : has two stepsisters
Significant Others
- Companion: Alexandra Hedison. began dating in fall 2000; had an on-again, off-again relationship
- Companion: Anne Heche. met at the Vanity Fair party on Oscar night in March 1997; separated in August 2000; Heche later married a cameraman who worked on a documentary she was making about DeGeneres’ comedy tour
- Companion: Kathy Perkoff. possibly DeGeneres’ first serious lover; died in tragic car accident in 1980
- Companion: . had six-year live-in relationship prior to involvement with Anne Heche
Education
- Atlanta High School, Atlanta, Texas
Milestones
- — Signed on to headline a remake of the 1977 comedy “Oh, God!” she will play the title character, a role originated by the late George Burns (lensed 2004)
- 1980 First stand-up appearance, in a New Orleans comedy club, consisted of eating Whopper, fries and a shake
- 1982 Named “Funniest Person in America” by Showtime, after a nationwide search
- 1986 Made first appearance on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson”; allegedly the first female comic asked to the couch on her first show
- 1986 TV debut on HBO’s “The Young Comedians All-Star Reunion”
- 1988 TV series debut, “Duet” (Fox)
- 1990 Starred in her own HBO comedy special
- 1991 Feature debut, “Wise Cracks”
- 1992 Cast in the short-lived series “Laurie Hill” (ABC)
- 1993 Feature acting debut, “Coneheads”
- 1994 Starred in the ensemble sitcom, “These Friends of Mine” (ABC)
- 1996 First leading role in films, “Mr. Wrong”
- 1996 Hosted the annual telecast of the Grammy Awards; received Emmy nomination
- 1997 Acted in Roland Joffe’s “Goodbye, Lover”, alongside Don Johnson, Dermot Mulroney and Mary-Louise Parker; released theatrically in 1999
- 1997 Earned Emmy nomination for playing herself in an episode of the HBO comedy series “The Larry Sanders Show”
- 1997 Publicly revealed that she is a lesbian just prior to having her TV character come out (April)
- 1999 Co-starred as Kate Capshaw’s best friend in “The Love Letter”
- 1999 Had featured role as a TV programmer in “EdTV”; garnered unintentional laughs when her character proclaims “I know what women want”
- 2000 Co-starred with Sharon Stone as a lesbian couple trying to have a child in the Anne Heche-directed segment of “If These Walls Could Talk 2″ (HBO); also served as an executive producer; production nominated for an Emmy as Outstanding Made for Television Movie
- 2000 Headlined the HBO comedy special “Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning”; also served as executive producer and writer; garnered Emmy nominations for Outstanding Individual Performance in Variety and for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special
- 2001 Hosted the annual telecast of the Emmy Awards; received Emmy nomination
- 2001 Made long-awaited return to sitcoms as star and executive producer of “The Ellen Show”, debuting in the fall on CBS
- 2003 Hosted own TV show, “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” which premiered on the WB station
- 2003 Voiced the absent-minded fish Dory in the animated hit feature “Finding Nemo”
- 2004 Guest role on the HBO series “Six Feet Under”
- 2004 Received a Grammy nomination for Best Comedy Album for “The Funny Thing is…”
- Cast as a regular in the “Duet” spin-off series “Open House” (Fox)
- Raised in New Orleans and Texas
- Starred in the ABC sitcom “Ellen”, a retooled version of “These Friends of Mine”; received four consecutive Emmy nominations as lead actress in a comedy series
- Toured the country performing stand-up act
- Will host the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards
