Age, Biography and Wiki
Ellen DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958, in Metairie, Louisiana. She rose to fame with her sitcom "Ellen" and later became a household name with her long-running talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." Ellen's journey from stand-up comedy to television stardom has been marked by her unique sense of humor and inclusivity.
| Occupation | Stand-up Comedians |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 26 January 1958 |
| Age | 67 Years |
| Birth Place | Metairie, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Horoscope | Aquarius |
| Country | U.S |
Height, Weight & Measurements
- Height: 5 feet 7 inches (170 cm)
- Weight: 59 kg (130 lbs)
- Measurements: Not publicly disclosed.
Ellen reached its height of popularity in April 1997, when DeGeneres came out as a lesbian on the cover of Time (with the headline, "Yep, I'm gay") and subsequently The Oprah Winfrey Show. Her character on the sitcom also came out of the closet to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey. The coming-out episode, titled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. The series returned for a fifth season but experienced falling ratings and was canceled.
DeGeneres launched her lifestyle brand under the name ED by Ellen in the summer of 2015. After her initial collections, the brand name then changed to ED Ellen DeGeneres to incorporate the licensed arm of her brand. The collection includes apparel, shoe, accessory, pet, baby and home items. DeGeneres's dog collection at PetSmart was launched in February 2017, and a cat line was introduced later that year.
In January 2018, for DeGeneres's 60th birthday, de Rossi gifted her a permanent gorilla home in Rwanda built in her name for the Digit Fund. This gift was part of a new arm of the Digit Fund called the "Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund".
| Height | 5 feet 7 inches |
| Weight | 130 lbs |
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Dating & Relationship status
Ellen DeGeneres is married to Portia de Rossi, whom she wed in 2008. Portia is also known for her acting career, particularly in shows like "Ally McBeal" and "Arrested Development." Together, they have built a successful life that includes real estate ventures and philanthropy.
She has one brother, Vance, a musician and producer. She was raised a Christian Scientist. Her parents filed for separation in 1973 and were divorced the following year. Shortly after, her mother married Roy Gruessendorf, a salesman. Betty Jane and Ellen moved with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas. Vance stayed with his father.
When she was 15 or 16 years old, DeGeneres was molested by her stepfather. Gruessendorf used her mother's recent breast cancer diagnosis as an excuse to touch her inappropriately, saying he needed to examine her breasts for lumps. Eventually, he tried to break down her door and sexually assault her, prompting her to run away from home and spend the night in a hospital. DeGeneres told her mother about the abuse a few years later, but Betty did not believe her, and remained married to Gruessendorf for 18 years afterward. She finally realized that DeGeneres had been telling the truth when his accounts of his behavior toward his stepdaughter kept changing. Gruessendorf died in 1997.
The New York Times profiled DeGeneres in 2018 as she faced the decision of renewing her talk-show contract and was exploring other outlets for her creativity, including her Netflix comedy special Relatable, which spoofs her kind image. They noted she felt boxed in with a reputation of always being nice, and the host who danced all the time. DeGeneres—who acknowledges that she has always been overly sensitive—fretted how her audience would react when she no longer wanted to dance. Her Christian Scientist upbringing included her father's psyche, "He was a very fearful man, he couldn't hear or engage with anything unpleasant."
In 1997, DeGeneres came out as a lesbian. The disclosure of her sexual orientation sparked intense interest by American tabloids. The contentiousness of the media coverage stunted her professional career and left her "mired in depression". In her book Love, Ellen, DeGeneres's mother Betty describes being initially shocked when DeGeneres came out, but she has since become one of her strongest supporters; Betty is also an active member of PFLAG and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project. The same year she came out, DeGeneres started a romantic relationship with actress Anne Heche that lasted until August 2000. From 2000 to 2004, DeGeneres maintained a close relationship with photographer Alexandra Hedison. The couple appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.
Since 2004, DeGeneres has been in a relationship with actress Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres and de Rossi were married in August 2008, at their home in Beverly Hills, California, where they lived with their four dogs and three cats. The passage of Proposition 8 in California cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage, but a California Supreme Court judgment validated their marriage because it occurred before November 4, 2008. A legal petition by de Rossi to change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres was granted on September 23, 2010.
| Parents | |
| Husband | Portia de Rossi (m. 2008) |
| Sibling | |
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Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Ellen DeGeneres' net worth is estimated to be $500 million. At the peak of her talk show, she earned around $60 million annually, with additional income from endorsements and hosting gigs. Her salary occasionally reached as high as $75 million during the show's most successful years.
Forbes estimated DeGeneres's 2020 earnings at US$84 million and her net worth at $370 million, making her the 12th-highest-paid entertainer in the world. In 2015, she was named the 50th-most-powerful woman in the world by Forbes and came second on the World Pride Power list. As of November 2023, she had 75 million followers on Twitter and 139 million followers on Instagram, making her the 14th most-followed user on Twitter and the 32nd most-followed user on Instagram.
Business and Real Estate
Ellen and Portia have been involved in several successful real estate ventures, buying, renovating, and selling luxurious properties in Southern California. Notable transactions include purchasing the Brody House for nearly $40 million and selling it for $55 million.
She began her career in stand-up comedy in the early 1980s, gaining national attention with a 1986 appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson. She starred in the television sitcoms Ellen (1994–1998) and The Ellen Show (2001–2002). She also hosted the syndicated television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003–2022), for which she received 33 Daytime Emmy Awards. In 2021, DeGeneres announced the end of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, following multiple allegations of workplace bullying. The controversy led to internal investigations and a sharp decline in public support, culminating in her decision to retire from the talk show in 2022.
DeGeneres also had a successful film career, starring in Mr. Wrong (1996), EDtv (1999), The Love Letter (1999), and most notably voicing the character Dory in Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016).
Outside of entertainment, DeGeneres has authored four books and founded the record label eleveneleven and the production company A Very Good Production. She also launched the lifestyle brand ED Ellen DeGeneres, offering apparel, home goods, and pet products.
DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in May 1976, after completing her first years of high school at Grace King High School in Metairie. She moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communication studies. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm with a cousin, Laura Gillen. Her early jobs included a stint at J. C. Penney and waitressing at TGI Fridays and another restaurant. She also worked as a house painter, a hostess and a bartender. She relates much of her childhood and career experiences in her comedic work.
DeGeneres's first regular TV role was in a short-lived Fox sitcom called Open House in 1989, a spin-off of the show Duet. She played the role of Margo Van Meter, a receptionist at the Juan Verde Real Estate company. The show co-starred Alison LaPlaca and Mary Page Keller. In 1992, producers Neal Marlens and Carol Black cast DeGeneres in their sitcom Laurie Hill, in the role of Nurse Nancy MacIntyre. The series was canceled after only four episodes, but Marlens and Black soon cast her in their next ABC pilot, These Friends of Mine, which they co-created with David S. Rosenthal.
Inspired by her comedy career, These Friends of Mine was renamed Ellen after the first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres's style of observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld".
Looking back on the situation in July 2024, DeGeneres said that she "got kicked out of show business for being mean." She added that after existing contractual obligations ended, she would leave show business for good.
DeGeneres has invited Humane Society of the United States CEO Wayne Pacelle to speak on her show several times about the organization's efforts in animal protection legislation. In 2009, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals named her their "Woman of the Year". In April 2013, she donated $25,000 to stop anti-whistleblower agricultural gag legislation in Tennessee, which would prohibit undercover investigators from recording footage of animal abuse on farms. In 2010, DeGeneres served as campaign ambassador to Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project, asking people to start "a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one" at Thanksgiving.
Social Network
Ellen DeGeneres is active on various social media platforms, including Instagram and Twitter, where she engages with her fans and shares updates about her life and projects.
DeGeneres returned to television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show, which was canceled after 13 episodes. In 2007, a former writer said she treated the writers "like shit" saying "Why do you keep writing these unfunny jokes?" After her sitcoms, DeGeneres would later re-establish herself as a successful talk show host.
DeGeneres replaced Paula Abdul as a judge on the ninth season of American Idol. Her role started after the contestant auditions, at the beginning of "Hollywood Week". It is reported that DeGeneres also signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons. She made her American Idol debut on February 9, 2010. However, on July 29, 2010, DeGeneres and Fox executives announced that the comedian would be leaving American Idol after one season. In a statement, DeGeneres said that the series "didn't feel like the right fit for me".
Months earlier, comedian and podcaster Kevin T. Porter published a thread on Twitter in which he called DeGeneres "notoriously one of the meanest people alive", and asked other Twitter users to post "stories you've heard about Ellen being mean", pledging to donate two dollars to the Los Angeles Food Bank for each post. The thread quickly went viral, with several posts alleging situations where DeGeneres had been unkind (such as for firing people who greeted her or looked her in the eyes).
A selfie orchestrated by 86th Academy Awards host Ellen DeGeneres during the broadcast is the fifth-most retweeted tweet ever. DeGeneres said she wanted to homage Meryl Streep's record 17 Oscar nominations by setting a new record with her, and invited other Oscar celebrities to join them. The resulting photo of twelve celebrities broke the previous retweet record within forty minutes and was retweeted over 1.8 million times in the first hour. By the end of the ceremony it had been retweeted over 2 million times, less than 24 hours later, it had been retweeted over 2.8 million times. As of May 2017, it has been retweeted over 3.4 million times. The group selfie effort was parodied by Lego and Matt Groening with The Simpsons. It beat the previous record, which was held by Barack Obama, following his victory in the 2012 presidential election.
On May 26, 2010, DeGeneres announced on her show that she was starting her own record label entitled "eleveneleven". She explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number 11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she found singer Greyson Chance on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11. She mentioned that she had been looking for videos of performances on YouTube to start her label. The first act she signed to the label was Chance.
In November 2017, it was announced that President Donald Trump would begin allowing the importation of elephant trophies from Africa. In response, DeGeneres created a hashtag campaign in partnership with her brand, ED Ellen DeGeneres, to donate to the David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust. She also created a T-shirt with her brand whose proceeds also go to the organization.
Education
Ellen DeGeneres attended Atlanta High School and later enrolled at the University of New Orleans, though she did not graduate. Instead, she pursued a career in comedy and television.
DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign. DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at Tulane University's May 2006 commencement in New Orleans. Following George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she appeared in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said. Ellen made another commencement speech at Tulane in 2009.
