Ellen DeGeneres (b.1958) is an American comedienne and talk show host.
Born in Metairie, Louisiana, DeGeneres discovered the healing power of humor when she told jokes to brighten up her grief-stricken mother after the divorce of her parents.
DeGeneres turned once again to comedy as a coping strategy after the death of Kathy Perkoff, a 23-year-old poet with whom DeGeneres fell in love. She wrote a monologue “A Phone Call to God” and performed it at her first stand-up show in New Orleans. It was a big hit and launched her career as a comedian. An invitation by Johnny Carson to appear on the late-night talk show in 1986 led to appearances on the talk show circuit and her eponymous sitcom, Ellen (1994–98.) She launched her own successful daytime talk show in 2003.
DeGeneres drew great media attention when she came out as a lesbian on Ellen in 1997. She is the author of two New York Times bestsellers, The Funny Thing Is … (2003) and Seriously … I’m Kidding (2011) sellers. In 2008, she again made headlines by wedding her lover of four years, the actress Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres has also lent her voice to the Disney hits Finding Nemo (2003) and Finding Dory (2016.)
More: Wikipedia • READ: Works by Ellen DeGeneres
In the beginning there was nothing. God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. There was still nothing, but you could see it a whole lot better.
—Ellen DeGeneres
Topics: Light
My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-three today and we don’t know where the hell she is.
—Ellen DeGeneres
Topics: Health, Walking
Friends will write me letters. They run out of room on the front of the letter. They write “over” on the bottom of the letter. Like I’m that much of a moron. Like I need that there. Because if it wasn’t there, I’d get to the bottom of the page: “And so Kathy and I went shopping and we..”. That’s the craziest thing! I don’t know why she would just end it that way.
—Ellen DeGeneres
Topics: Letters
Be open to learning new lessons even if they contradict the lessons you learned yesterday.
—Ellen DeGeneres
The first person I learned I could make happy with laughter was my mother, whom I idolize. It was a powerful thing to realize. I knew I had found my life’s work.
—Ellen DeGeneres
Topics: Laughter
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