Ellen DeGeneres is one of the most successful and openly gay celebrities of today. She has received numerous accolades and was even recognized by President Barack Obama for contributing to the LGBT community. Hercredit report can be called stellar as her earnings leave no room for any delayed payments on her home or other properties. After all, her net worth is quite impressive given that she has even out-earned Oprah Winfrey, which is saying something. However, not all was glitter and gold with DeGeneres’ life as she had faced plenty of ups and downs herself.
A Glimpse of Her Childhood
The successful TV host was born in Louisiana on January 26, 1958. Her parents legally separated when she was just 13, and her older brother was 17. Ellen then found that she had a knack for comedy since she was the one who made her mother laugh all the time. The comedian/host admitted that she knew she was gay right from the get-go. With all her investments in her career and her name, she did not foresee that she would hit a roadblock after coming out to the world.
DeGeneres’s career shifted to being a stand-up comedian after her longtime girlfriend, Kat Perkoff, passed. It was during this time when she wrote Phone Call to God, which was a comedy monologue. It was this act that eventually took her career to greater heights.
The Early Years
Two years after that fateful event, DeGeneres was labeled by Showtime to be the Funniest Person in America. Then, in 1986, she caught her biggest break performing her Phone Call to God in the Tonight Show, Starring Johnny Carson. She was the only one out of all the comediennes who performed in the show invited by the host himself to sit on his sofa and be interviewed. For DeGeneres, this was what made her career as a comedienne come to life and one that would help her avoid applying for personal loans too.
This led to more projects coming her way, including being cast in the sitcom, These Friends of Mine. She played the role of Ellen Morgan, the bookshop owner loved by the audiences. The show was retitled in the next season to simply Ellen. This soon became the top-rated comedy show in the US.
Of course, the tabloids swooped in to know more about the rising star’s private life, including her sexual orientation. Ellen was smart enough to convince the network to have her character in the show come out as gay. She later revealed that she was gay during an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Though many welcomed her admission, more were shocked about her revelation. This later affected all theinvestmentsthat Ellen had poured into her career.
The Star Shone Once More
Since her biggest reveal about being gay was met with mixed reactions, DeGeneres hit rock bottom. She did go back to doing her stand-up routine to avoid applying for paydayloans. Fortunately, there was a silver lining to all of it. It came in the form of Andrew Stinton, the scriptwriter for the movie Finding Nemo. After watching a rerun of Ellen, a lightbulb moment hit. Then and there, he wrote the character of Dory with DeGeneres in mind. Needless to say, this was the second highest-grossing film when it was released. It was this movie that put DeGeneres back into the limelight.
This also led to new ventures because it was the same time when The Ellen DeGeneres Show was launched. Her interviews with A-listers, as well as her gentle probing, made her an instant hit. It also led to her receiving several nominations during its first season, then won four. One of these awards was for being the Best Talk Show. DeGeneres was asked to host the Oscars, not once but twice, with her all-star selfie breaking Twitter records in 2014.
A Love to Last
It wasn’t just her career that was soaring, but it also her personal life too. DeGeneres was involved with fellow actress Anne Heche and photographer Alexandra Hedison before she met Portia de Rossi. De Rossi, it seemed, had a crush on DeGeneres. When she did approach Ellen to tell her about her feelings, it appeared that the feeling was mutual. Four years later, they were married, and they are still staying strong today.
DeGeneres has broken boundaries ever since she started as a stand-up comedienne. She has done philanthropy work together with de Rossi, and she has given back to her guests. It does show that she has a financial advisor to consult when it comes to her earnings. Hopefully, her career keeps on swimming to success.
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