Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American comedian, television host, actress, writer, and producer. She starred in the sitcom Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and has hosted The Ellen DeGeneres Show since 2003. Her stand-up career began in the early 1980s, and in 1986 she appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, becoming the first female comedian invited by Carson to join him for an onscreen chat. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong (1996), appeared in EDtv (1999) and The Love Letter (1999), and voiced Dory in Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016). For Finding Nemo, she won the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first time the award was given for a voice performance. In 2010, she was a judge on American Idol season nine.
DeGeneres starred in two sitcoms, Ellen (1994–1998) and The Ellen Show (2001–2002). In 1997, during Ellen's fourth season, she came out as a lesbian on The Oprah Winfrey Show; her character Ellen Morgan also came out, making her the first openly lesbian actress to play an openly lesbian character on television. She married Portia de Rossi in 2008. DeGeneres has hosted the Academy Awards, Grammy Awards, and Primetime Emmys, authored three books, and founded the record company Eleveneleven. She has won 29 Emmy Awards, 20 People's Choice Awards (the most ever), and other honors. In 2016, she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama.
United States
