From a friendly fish to a wildlife hero, here is the truth about Ellen DeGeneres:
Number 16..
College Dropout
Ellen was born in Louisiana in January 1958 and eventually moved from her hometown to
Atlanta, Texas, where she graduated high school.
She then went to New Orleans and began attending the University of New Orleans.
Ellen studied communication, which isn't too surprising since she's an extremely successful
talk show host.
However, she didn't stay in school very long.
One semester after beginning her post-secondary education, she dropped out.
She started working for a law firm with her cousin, Laura Gille, doing office work.
In fact, Ellen had several odd jobs before hitting it big time; she worked as a T.G.I.
Friday's waitress, a bartender, a hostess, a house painter, and had even worked at JCPenney.
Number 15..
Dory
One thing DeGeneres is well-known for is her voice-acting of Dory in Finding Nemo and Finding
Dory.
Her character has short-term memory loss, which is no surprise to most Disney/Pixar
fans out there.
Andrew Stanton, the director of these family-friendly films, chose Ellen to play the part through
a random series of events.
His original idea was to cast a male fish character to accompany Marlin; but, after
reading about the short-term memory loss of goldfish, he thought adding it in would make
an interesting component.
Later, when was listening to The Ellen Show, he heard DeGeneres change the subject she
was talking about five times in a single sentence.
This was when he knew that the character would be a female fish.
After combining these two aspects, he came up with Dory.
Number 14..
CoverGirl
Since Ellen has pretty much done it all, why not add "model" to the list?
In 2008, CoverGirl announced that DeGeneres would be the face of their Simply Ageless
Foundation.
Their vice president, Esi Eggleston Bracey, said they chose her to represent this new
product because "Ellen is a quintessential CoverGirl.
She is smart, confident, and natural, with a beauty and down-to-Earth personality that
fits perfectly with what CoverGirl represents."
Plus, since she was 50 at the time and well-versed in daily makeup use for her show, DeGeneres
was the perfect candidate to show off the foundation's effectiveness.
Number 13..
Watch Fanatic
Something you might not know about Ellen DeGeneres is that she loves watches.
She's been featured in several articles about celebrity watch collections, including Luxe
Watches and Business Insider.
Most people are too busy paying attention to Ellen's quirky personality and comedic
shows to pay attention to her fashionable, expensive wrist accessories.
Number 12..
Host
As you can probably tell by her talk show, Ellen DeGeneres is a magnificent host; she
makes people laugh and keeps things lighthearted, while also getting her point across.
She has hosted the Emmy Awards in 2001, things were very sensitive because 9/11 had just
taken place; despite this, Ellen got standing ovations during the event because she kept
people positive during an exceedingly difficult time.
After Hurricane Katrina, she also hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmys and still managed to
keep people cheerful.
Number 11..
Wife
Ellen began dating Portia de Rossi in 2004 after a few other publicized relationships
didn't work out.
In 2008, the California Supreme Court overturned the ban that prevented two people of the same
gender tying the knot.
So, Ellen and Portia quickly became engaged and said "I do" in August that year.
Two years later, Portia created to petition so that her legal name would become Portia
Lee James DeGeneres; it was granted in September 2010.
Number 10..
Animal Philanthropist
DeGeneres is an animal lover, which she has made evident on several occasions…
I mean, she even played one.
She and her wife are both vegans, and Ellen has tried numerous times to spread the word
about veganism in an attempt to get others to follow suit.
She even started up a website called "Going Vegan With Ellen" that provided recipes and
helpful tips to help others with the challenging diet change.
She and Portia once planned to open a vegan restaurant in Los Angeles; but, unfortunately,
their plans didn't work out.
DeGeneres is also an animal rights advocate.
The former CEO of the Humane Society of the United States, was invited
several times to appear on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and spoke about animal protection laws.
In 2009, she was named "Woman of the Year" by PETA.
She has also donated a multitude of times to various charity organizations, including
the Society for Animal Protective Legislation, The Humane Society, the Petco Foundation,
and the Halo Pet Foundation.
In 2010, she led the Adopt-A-Turkey Project, which asked people to give these creatures
a home instead of devouring one during Thanksgiving.
In January 2018, Portia gave Ellen an unbeatable birthday gift: a complex in Rwanda to serve
as part of Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International in honor of Ellen's idol, Dian Fossey, and
her love for animals.
The complex is called The Ellen DeGeneres Center for the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund.
Portia also set up the Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund; there are websites to donate to the
Gorilla and Wildlife funds online easily.
Number 9..
Ellen Ride
She is a talk show host, an actress, a philanthropist, and so much more.
But, did you know that Ellen even had her own ride at Epcot?
It was located in Future World in the famous Disney park in Florida.
The ride was a pavilion that contained the attraction Ellen's Energy Adventure.
Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Jamie Lee Curtis, Johnny Gilbert, and DeGeneres were the stars of the
show, which featured a roof with 80,000 solar cells that helped provide power to the ride's
vehicles.
The ride was educational as well as entertaining; it discussed various power sources, including
fossil fuels and renewable resources.
If the celebrities weren't enough, this attraction also featured animatronic dinosaurs.
Ellen's Energy Adventure ran from 1996 to 2017.
Number 8..
Author
DeGeneres has done just about everything; so, it shouldn't come as a surprise that she
is also a published author.
Her first book came out in 1995 and is titled My Point and I Do Have One, which is a collection
of her thoughts and various comedic entries intended mostly for entertainment.
In 2003, she came out with The Funny Thing Is, which also keeps readers laughing and
turning the page.
Her next book, titled Seriously I'm Kidding, was released in 2011; it is also a lighthearted
read that provides details of Ellen's life while keeping people amused.
Four years later, DeGeneres finished the book Home, which documents her various houses and
love for interior design.
Along with those works, she also helped write a vegan cookbook with Quentin Bacon, Roberto
Martin, and her wife.
Number 7..
Medal of Freedom
In 2016, Ellen received the highest honor from President Barack Obama that a civilian
can: the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Before gifting her the medal, Obama spoke about Ellen's courage during her coming-out
and her drive to make America a nation based on equality for all people.
During the ceremony, they referred to her Finding Nemo character and stated, "Again
and again, Ellen DeGeneres has shown us that a single individual can make the world a more
fun, more open, more loving place - so long as we just keep swimming."
It was very emotional for all people involved, with Ellen tearing up and Obama nearly shedding
some tears himself.
Number 6..
Awards
Ellen has proven herself extremely successful over the years, and she has the awards to
show for it.
She has received 29 Daytime Emmy Awards from 2004 to the present for her work on The Ellen
DeGeneres Show and has a Primetime Emmy for the episode of Ellen titled "The Puppy Episode."
She has also taken home 20 People's Choice Awards and two Producers Guild of America
Awards.
She has 10 Teen Choice Awards and various others, including an American Comedy Award,
a few Kids' Choice Awards, and a Critics' Choice Television Award.
One could say Ellen DeGeneres is a very decorated lady.
Number 5..
Net Worth
Her career has been one to admire over the years.
From Ellen to her talk show, film acting, and charitable work, this woman has shown
the world there's no limit to what she can do.
So, it's not a shocker that she's made a lot of money over the years.
As of this year, it's noted that Ellen's net worth is about $400 million.
Number 4..
Legal Problems
During Ellen's talk show in 2016, she included a small segment titled "What's Wrong With
These Signs"; she featured photographs of various signs on a large screen with names
or titles that could be humorously interpreted.
One of these pictures was of a realty sign with the name "Titi Pierce."
You can probably see where this story is going… but, anyway, Ellen cracked a joke about the
woman's first name, relating it to a female's upper torso.
Although most people believed the playful mock to be funny, Ms. Pierce thought otherwise.
She stated that she was being ridiculed in her hometown, and, because her telephone number
wasn't blurred out, she had received several rude phone calls - even one while she was
at a funeral.
She even reportedly received a message that said, "size DD, 37 bra is ready."
However, the judge ended up dropping the case and declared that Ellen did nothing wrong.
But, this isn't the first time DeGeneres had faced some legal issues.
In 2009, she was sued by several record labels for using their music getting permission.
She had been accused of using over 1,000 songs during the dance portion of The Ellen DeGeneres
Show.
Warner Bros. stated that they wanted to resolve the issue … and since Ellen is still
out there getting her groove on, it's safe to say they figured it all out.
Number 3..
Coming Out
We already discussed that DeGeneres won a Primetime Emmy for "The Puppy Episode" of
Ellen.
She received the award for "Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series," but the reasoning goes
deeper than that.
This famous chapter of the show was also a significant moment in Ellen's off-screen life;
this is the episode that she came out as gay.
During this installment, she goes to dinner with an old college friend named Richard.
While they're enjoying their food, Richard's producer, Susan, sits down at the table, and
she and Ellen hit it off.
Later on, Susan tells Ellen that she's gay and says she thought Ellen was too, which
she denies firmly, announcing that she's straight.
However, when she tries to be romantic with Richard, she can't.
Near the end of the segment, Ellen comes out to Susan, revealing that she's gay in the
show as well as in real life.
This was a very important time in DeGeneres' life but was also significant for the world.
She inspired people everywhere to be honest and proud of who they are and to have to courage
to let others know as well.
Despite her bravery, she received a lot of backlash for The Episode
Several companies, including JCPenney and Wendy's, decided not to advertise during the
show.
Even the woman who played Susan, Laura Dern, was out of work for over a year for playing
a gay character; but, she stated that she was very thankful for the experience of acting
in such an important episode.
Number 2..
Johnny Carson
Most of us know where she ended up: an outstanding comedian, actress, producer, and icon.
However, many people might not know where she got her start.
In November 1986, when Ellen was just 28 years old, she appeared on an episode of The Tonight
Show Starring Johnny Carson.
She impressed the audience with a short stand-up routine, during which she joked about her
childhood, the uselessness of fleas, and God.
Carson told her that she had fun, fresh material and gave her an open invitation to appear
more often on his show.
At that point, DeGeneres had only been practicing comedy for four years; but, it was the beginning
of a long path that led her to where she is today.
Number 1..
Royal Background
Perhaps the most surprising fact about Ellen DeGeneres is her relation to several other
stars.
She is almost royalty… well, maybe not almost… but related to royalty nonetheless!
Kate Middleton is her 14th cousin, twice removed.
She noted their connection on Lorraine and said that someone had worked up her lineage
charts.
Ellen has referred to this relation on several different occasions as well; she stated, during
an episode of her talk show in November 2017, that her family was expanding, in reference
to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding.
She is also related to other celebrities, including Madonna and Halle Berry.