About Ellen DeGeneres

Beloved television icon and entertainment pioneer, Ellen DeGeneres' distinctive comic voice has resonated with audiences from her first stand-up comedy appearances through her work today on television, in film and in the literary world.
Ellen DeGeneres has made a home for herself in the daytime arena with her hit syndicated talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." The show enters its ninth season on September 12, fresh from winning the Daytime Emmy for "Outstanding Talk Show." During its eight seasons, the show has earned a total of 35 Daytime Emmy Awards. Additionally, DeGeneres has won eleven People's Choice Awards and most recently, the Teen Choice Award for "Choice Comedian" for a third consecutive year. Additionally, the show has won a Genesis Award and a GLAAD Media Award for "Outstanding Talk Show Episode."
DeGeneres has been included in Forbes 100 Most Powerful Women and was also included in Entertainment Weekly's 50 Most Powerful Entertainers. She was honored with Television Week's Syndication Personality of the Year and has been included in TIME magazine's 100 Most Influential People.
DeGeneres had the honor of hosting the highly rated 79th Annual Academy Awards and was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for "Outstanding Individual Performance in a Variety or Music Program." In addition to hosting the Oscars, DeGeneres has hosted the Primetime Emmy Awards three times. Her performance as host of the 2001 awards show garnered her rave reviews for providing a perfect balance of wit and heartfelt emotion for the post-September 11th telecast. DeGeneres served as host for an array of industry events, including the 38th and 39th Annual Grammy Awards, for which she earned an Emmy nomination.
DeGeneres also received critical acclaim for her HBO stand-up specials. "The Beginning" received two Emmy nominations in 2001, and the special entitled "Here and Now" was also nominated for two Emmys in 2003.
DeGeneres, an accomplished best-selling author, will release her third book on October 4th, titled, "Seriously... I'm Kidding," which includes a compilation of photos, quotes and stories from her life. DeGeneres' second book, "The Funny Thing Is...." was comprised of the author's comedic short stories and essays. It hit the New York Times Best Seller list upon its release. In 2005, DeGeneres was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album for the audio version of the book. Her first book, "My Point... And I Do Have One," published in 1995, debuted at No. 1 on the New York Times Best Seller list.
Both on and off screen, DeGeneres' humanitarian efforts take center stage. This past year, DeGeneres brought awareness to the anti-bullying issue by creating a PSA titled "Be Kind." DeGeneres and the show partnered with the Trevor Project and Pacer Center to raise money and awareness for the cause. In addition, DeGeneres showed her support for her hometown of New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina. Her efforts have resulted in "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" raising over 10 million dollars to improve the lives of New Orleans residents.
DeGeneres continues to share her love of animals and has brought attention to the Gentle Barn, an organization that rescues and rehabilitates animals. Overall, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" has raised over 50 million dollars and brought attention to various causes, including global warming and breast cancer awareness. Additionally, DeGeneres served as spokesperson for General Mills' breast cancer awareness initiative, Pink for the Cure, and hosted special episodes of her show to mark Breast Cancer Awareness Month.
DeGeneres' career began as an emcee at a local comedy club in her hometown of New Orleans, which led to national recognition in 1982 when her videotaped club performances won Showtime's "Funniest Person in America" honor. When DeGeneres moved to Los Angeles, she filmed her first HBO Special, "Young Comedians Reunion," then in 1986, "Women of the Night." That same year, DeGeneres became the first female comedian to be summoned by Johnny Carson to sit down with him after her performance.
DeGeneres began her acting career in television on FOX's sitcom, "Open House." She moved on to ABC's "Laurie Hill," prior to being offered a part on "These Friends of Mine" by ABC. After the first season, the show was renamed "Ellen." Running from 1994 to 1998, the show garnered record ratings, with DeGeneres receiving Emmy nominations each season in the Best Actress category. In 1997, DeGeneres was the recipient of the coveted Peabody Award as well as an Emmy for writing the critically acclaimed "Puppy Episode," in which her character came out as a gay woman to a record 46 million viewers. DeGeneres followed with the CBS sitcom, "The Ellen Show," which ran from 2001 to 2002.
In the course of producing and starring in "Ellen," DeGeneres received numerous accolades, including The People's Choice Award in 1995, two Golden Globe nominations and two Screen Actors Guild nominations. Other television credits include Executive Producing and starring with Sharon Stone in the Emmy-nominated "If These Walls Could Talk II" for HBO, as well as a guest appearance on the "Larry Sanders Show," for which she received another Emmy nomination.
DeGeneres has also been successful in her feature film work. DeGeneres scored unprecedented popular and critical response to her character, Dory, the fish with extremely short-term memory, in the blockbuster animated feature film, "Finding Nemo." DeGeneres' feature film credits include "EDTV" for director Ron Howard, "Mr. Wrong," "The Love Letter" for Dreamworks, New Regency's "Goodbye Lover," and "Coneheads."
DeGeneres also served as the fourth judge on "American Idol" during its ninth season. The judging panel included, Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi.
In May 2010, DeGeneres announced eleveneleven, a record label created in partnership with Telepictures, which will find new acts and platform them on the talk show, with the first release from 12-year-old Internet singing sensation, Greyson Chance.
DeGeneres has become a sought after spokesperson who's been featured in highly successful and popular campaigns, including American Express, CoverGirl and vitaminwater zero.

Read more »

Ellen DeGeneres is the most visible gay or lesbian public figure in America

More than anyone else, Ellen DeGeneres is the face of LGBT America. Still.

That’s the verdict of two new Pew Research Center surveys, one of the general U.S. population and the other of LGBT Americans specifically.

Not only was the comedian and television host by far the most frequently cited example of a gay or lesbian public figure in the general-population survey, she and President Obama were the leaders when LGBT Americans were asked to name a well-known figure who’s been important in advancing the rights of LGBT people.

DeGeneres was already a well-known comedian and star of her eponymous sitcom when she came out publicly as a lesbian 16 years ago. Since then, she’s established herself as a highly successful talk-show host, voice actress (“Dory” in Finding Nemo) and commercial spokesperson. A 31-year-old bisexual woman in our survey captured DeGeneres’ appeal and significance as well as anyone: “[S]he has been out for so long that it is no longer an issue, and older white women feel comfortable with her show. She normalizes LGBT people.”

Nearly a quarter of LGBT respondents cited President Obama, who publicly reversed his previous opposition to same-sex marriage and spoke about it, and LGBT rights more generally, in his second inaugural address this past January.

Jason Collins, a center for the NBA’s Washington Wizards, was the second-most frequently mentioned gay or lesbian public figure in the general-population survey. Just before the survey was conducted, Collins became the first active male professional athlete in a major North American team sport to come out publicly as gay; he’s due to become a free agent next month. (The LGBT survey was conducted before Collins’ announcement.)

It’s worth noting, though, that almost four-in-ten Americans (38%) said they couldn’t name any gay or lesbian entertainers or public figures, including 61% of people age 65 and older.

Two-thirds of LGBT adults said well-known people who are themselves open about being LGBT “helps a lot” in making U.S. society more accepting of the community generally; nearly as many said that about non-LGBT public figures supporting LGBT issues. However, 46% didn’t offer the name of a national public figure as important in advancing LGBT rights.

Read more »

Dulce Delight: Mini Eatable Flower Bouquet - My welcome to Jamie Oliver's Food Tube

I love this game. Thank you very
much.

<a
href="http://www.friv2games.org.uk/4">Friv 2</a>

 <a href="http://www.yepi12.org/2">Yepi 2</a> | <a href="http://www.kizigamesonline.name/">kizi games</a> | <a href="http://www.85play-games.com/"> 85play</a>

Read more »

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi adopt a ‘Kid’

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are the proud parents of a nine-week old pooch named Kid.
DeGeneres, 57, made the announcement on Thursday’s show.
“I have not talked about this yet, but we have a new puppy,” she said. “Portia and I got a puppy and his name is Kid so now we have a kid. Yep. I mean, he is absolutely adorable.”
Although the couple is thrilled at the new addition, they’re not so pleased with the constant after-hours attention Kid needs. DeGeneres said it’s “not cute” to wake up at 11, and 1 and 3 and 5 for all his puppy needs.
“It really makes me appreciate what it’s like to be a mother,” she added. “Because like I’m trying to hold a puppy while I’m trying to make coffee. And I can’t do anything. He doesn’t let me do anything.”
There’s always been speculation as if and when DeGeneres and de Rossi will ever have a child. “And I named him Kid because, you know, people… There have been rumors forever,” DeGeneres began. “‘When are you and Portia gonna have a kid?’ So, now I can say we have a Kid. So it can just stop.”

Read more »

John Krasinski Explains Why Sitting At Leonardo DiCaprio's Table Was So Awkward

"[T]hat sounds really cool, except I didn't get a chance to meet him and I didn't want to be like, 'Hey man, I'm the guy that doesn't have anybody,'" he said. "And then they won everything, so I'm in the middle of hugs and people are like, 'This is the best year ever!' And I was like, 'Wasn't it?' And then everybody went up and gave their speech I felt really pretty stupid."

Krasinski was a little bit confused about what to do amid the celebrations.

"Speaking of ['The Revenant' director] Alejandro [G. Iñárritu], when he won he said hi to everyone and thank you—because they all worked on the movie—and then turned to me and there was that moment of like, 'Why are you here?' and I was like, 'Congratulations!'"

Oh, John, you keep us young.

This article was written by Cavan Sieczkowski from Huffington Post and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.

Read more »

Ellen DeGeneres: The Oscars host who came out of the cold

In September, Ellen DeGeneres told the audience of her talkshow about the pros and cons of hosting the Academy Awards: "Pro: a lot of fancy designers will want to approach me and want me to wear a beautiful, expensive gown. Con: ain't no way in hell I'm wearing a gown." The audience erupted in cheers.

Such vocal approval is an indication of how far both DeGeneres's fortunes and US public attitudes towards sexuality and gender have shifted. At the turn of the century, you could have been excused for thinking DeGeneres was down and out.

After spending two decades establishing herself as one of the most popular comedians in the US, in 1997 she gambled everything on coming out as a lesbian, both in real life and in character on the hit sitcom that bore her name – and she seemed to lose. Advertisers deserted her show, her relationship with Anne Heche became tabloid fodder, she sank into depression and her career seemed to stall.

Look at her now. DeGeneres hasn't just bounced back; she's a bona fide American superstar, with a juggernaut of a talk show, nearly three billion views on her YouTube channel, and more Twitter followers than Oprah Winfrey, CNN or any member of One Direction. She has done it on her own terms. And she definitely wears suits, not gowns – as she will when she hosts the awards for a second time on Sunday.

DeGeneres has never been one to think small. Born outside New Orleans in 1958, she once said she decided early in life "I wanted to have money, I wanted to be special, I wanted people to like me, I wanted to be famous." One of the key aspects of her success is that she has achieved this, lost it all and come back stronger without coming across as ambitious or egocentric, let alone nasty or mean. Her amiability and approachability are crucial to her appeal, and perhaps her most politically significant attributes too.

Overcoming adversity is a motif that repeats itself in DeGeneres' life. When she was a 21-year-old college dropout, she fought with her girlfriend Kat and left their apartment. When Kat found her at a rock concert and begged her to come home, Ellen ignored her. Minutes later, Kat was killed in a car crash. Devastated, DeGeneres almost fell into self-destruction but found herself in her work. She impulsively embarked on what would become her comedy career, writing a routine called A Phone Call to God that she decided – one day – she would perform on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson. Seven years of dedicated gigging later, in 1986, she did just that – and was the first female comedian he invited over for a chat after her routine.

In 1994 DeGeneres landed her own ABC sitcom, called Ellen. Like Seinfeld, it combined wry observational standup with stories about social awkwardness: bookstore worker Ellen was basically likeable but clumsy and needy, with a tendency to ramble nervously and veer off on tangents. Perhaps unsurprisingly, given her penchant for deflection and self-effacement, Ellen was hiding something.

Rumours about her sexuality grew and hints were dropped on the show until in 1997 both Ellen the character and DeGeneres the performer came out as gay. Oprah was involved in both cases, as therapist to the former and talkshow host to the latter when DeGeneres appeared on her show. Degeneres also gave an interview to Time magazine, appearing on the cover with the strapline "Yep, I'm Gay".

"It's important to remember no one had done anything like that before," says Matt Kane of Glaad, the US lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender media advocacy group. "To come out on that scale – Ellen occupied a position in US pop culture that meant she introduced a lot of viewers to the reality of being gay or lesbian in a way they hadn't confronted."

The coming out sparked a mini culture war, with many praising the comedian's courage while others recoiled. The TV evangelist Jerry Falwell branded her "Ellen DeGenerate".

Initial support from advertisers and the network slipped away, audiences fell, and in May 1998 Ellen was cancelled. Four months later, Will & Grace – the first network sitcom with a lead character who was out from the start – debuted to considerable success. But Ellen was out in the cold. "I didn't work for three years," she has said. "I was so angry. I thought: I earned this. I didn't get this because I was beautiful; I didn't get this because I had connections in the business. I really worked my way up to a show, a sitcom that was mine that was successful, that was on for five years. I did what was right: I came out, which was good for me and ultimately it was the only thing I could do. And then I got punished for it." Meanwhile, her public profile took a hammering, not least because for the first time the press had a celebrity lesbian couple to fixate on in DeGeneres and Heche. Their unabashed displays of affection, including at the Clinton White House, were a lightning rod for criticism until they split in 2000.

By then, DeGeneres was re-establishing herself as a major standup. She was praised when she hosted the Emmys soon after 9/11 – asking "what would upset the Taliban more than a gay woman wearing a suit in front of a room full of Jews?" – and secured a new sitcom on CBS. Momentum was gathering. In 2002, the lesbian culture website AfterEllen launched, its name confirming DeGeneres's coming out as a watershed moment. And in 2003, she stole the film Finding Nemo as scatterbrained Pacific regal blue tang Dory.

In 2003, she launched The Ellen DeGeneres Show. Combining celebrity guests and comedy shtick – dancing with the audience, social-media blooper segments – it was fun and feelgood but in a comfy, pally way that contrasted with Oprah's messianic vibe. It won several Emmys in its first year and ratings climbed. They haven't stopped yet.

In 2004, DeGeneres started dating the actor Portia di Rossi, whom she married in 2008 and lives with in apparently blissful, tabloid-unfriendly domesticity.

"She's a great symbol of how far we've come," says Kane. "From losing nearly all her major sponsors after she came out, she's now one of America's most popular talk show hosts. Her screen presence is very welcoming. She can be quick-witted and sharp without being mean-spirited, which has really endeared her to audiences. She connects by doing what she does best: talking about shared experiences."

Prejudice against any given group is harder to maintain once people get to know a member of it. "Housewives who might have been disapproving when Ellen came out have got to know her," says Kane. "They see she's not the frightening activist they might have thought, but someone they want to spend time with on a daily basis."

DeGeneres' new mainstream popularity was cemented in 2007 when she hosted the Oscars for the first time. The fact that she was the first openly gay person to do so was perhaps less interesting than the sense that she was tapped because of her upbeat tone, a marked shift from two years of distinctly barbed hosting from Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. Now DeGeneres was the go-to act to keep everyone calm.

"These days it seems that everyone loves DeGeneres," W magazine noted. "Her distinctive hip populism cuts across divergent demographics while alienating no one … She just seems so nice and so normal." It might have taken a decade, but DeGeneres had reclaimed her position as a kind of national best buddy. But she has kept getting bigger. Her talk show goes from strength to strength, clocking up ever-growing ratings, 33 Emmys to date and A-list guests (Leonardo DiCaprio and Meryl Streep in recent weeks). Last month, the New York Times called her the new Oprah", noting her extraordinary advertising pull and growing range of branded products and media ventures, and suggesting her show has "helped fuel a full-fledged cultural movement, in which bullying is not OK".

Certainly, DeGeneres is using her industry clout to push things forward. Through her company, A Very Good Production, she is currently producing sitcom One Big Happy, about a gay woman and a straight man (Elisha Cuthbert and Nick Zano), lifelong friends who have a baby just as he meets the love of his life. DeGeneres will even graduate from comic relief to leading fish in Finding Dory, the sequel to Finding Nemo, scheduled for release in 2016.

And of course she has been invited to host the Oscars again – notably in the wake of another couple of fractious years courtesy of the bizarre Hathaway-Franco double act of 2012 and Seth MacFarlane's bad-taste bonanza in 2013. "When she was first announced as an Oscar host, some people saw it as a risk," says Kane. "Now it seems like a natural fit or even a safer choice."

DeGeneres was once asked about the moment when Johnny Carson invited her over to chat after her debut appearance on The Tonight Show. "It catapulted my career," she acknowledged, but "that's not why I wanted to do it. I wanted to do it because … I wanted people to get me." A bumpy three-decade ride later, it's safe to say that America gets Ellen DeGeneres, and it likes her.
Potted profile

Born 26 January 1958 in Metairie, Louisiana

Age 56

Career In 1986 she became the first female comedian to be invited for an on-screen chat with Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show. From 1994-1998 she appeared in the sitcom Ellen. After that was cancelled, she experienced a hiatus before returning with her talk show.

Low point After coming out as a lesbian in Ellen and in real life in 1997, advertisers pulled out of the show and it was cancelled after one more season.

High point Her appearance as host of the Emmys soon after 9/11.

What she says "My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She's 97 now, and we don't know where the hell she is."

What they say about her "She combines her cosy charm with a coldly brilliant cynic's eye." – Leo Benedictus, the Guardian

Read more »

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi: Couple allegedly attending therapy to save marriage?

Star magazine claims that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia De Rossi are visiting a couple's therapistGetty

American talk show host/comedian Ellen DeGeneres and her wife Portia De Rossi are again hit by reports that their relationship is in trouble.

According to Star magazine, the 57-year-old Oscar host and the 42-year-old Ally McBeal star have been allegedly visiting a couple's therapist as a final attempt to save their marriage.

"It was a very unhealthy situation, but they have begun the healing process. They are finally dealing with their issues," an alleged source said.

"Portia often complains that she feels bullied. With Ellen's show on hiatus for the summer, she is home bossing Portia around all day and expecting her to be at her beck and call," the insider added.

"They fight a lot during the sessions," the source said.

DeGeneres married the Australian-American actress in 2008. However, there have been several reports since 2013 that the couple's marriage was on the rocks.

DeGeneres has done her best to quash the divorce rumours.

"The tabloids had a photo of Portia not wearing her wedding ring. She goes, 'I didn't wear it because when I ride horses and I'm holding the reins, it gives me a blister'!" DeGeneres told People last year in March.

"The truth is, and this is corny, I fall more in love with Portia all the time. I really do. She surprises me all the time," she said.

"It's what anyone experiences when you find that person that gets you, wants to take care of you, wants the best for you. We're really lucky because we know how rare it is," DeGeneres added.

Read more »