Ellen DeGeneres

1958-present

Ellen DeGeneres Now: Comedian’s Final Stand-Up Special Arrives on Netflix

Ellen DeGeneres is releasing one last stand-up special before permanently disappearing from the public eye. The comedian’s final special, Ellen DeGeneres: For Your Approval, premieres today, September 24, on Netflix.

The new special is her first big project since her long-running talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, came to an end in June 2022, just two years after staffers accused her of creating a “toxic work environment.”

As anticipated, the controversy is a major topic in For Your Approval. In the hour-long set, DeGeneres discusses being supposedly “kicked out of show business” and refutes accusations that she was “mean” to her staff. Yet, she also reflects that she “was a very immature boss” because she “didn’t want to be a boss” and is now “happy” that she is no longer in that position.

Ahead of the release of For Your Approval, the 66-year-old embarked on her Ellen’s Last Stand… Up tour, telling an audience during a post-performance Q&A in July that the special was her final gig. “This is the last time you’re going to see me,” she said. “After my Netflix special, I’m done.”

Ellen DeGeneres hit it big as a stand-up comedian before starring on her own sitcom, Ellen. In 1997, she came out as gay and became a staunch advocate of LGBTQ rights. DeGeneres then began hosting her own award-winning talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, which ran from 2003 to 2022. The comedian has appeared in several movies, including the animated smash hit Finding Nemo and its sequel Finding Dory. She is married model and actor Portia de Rossi.

FULL NAME: Ellen Lea DeGeneres
BORN: January 26, 1958
BIRTHPLACE: Metairie, Louisiana
SPOUSE: Portia de Rossi (2008-present)
ASTROLOGICAL SIGN: Aquarius

Ellen Lea DeGeneres was born January 26, 1958, in Metairie, Louisiana, to an insurance salesman and a working mother, Betty DeGeneres. Ellen’s parents divorced when she was a teenager.

When she was growing up, Ellen dreamed of becoming a veterinarian, but she gave up the idea because she was “not book smart.” Instead, she waited tables, sold vacuum cleaners, painted houses, and worked as a legal secretary.

Her older brother, Vance, an actor-comedian and former correspondent for The Daily Show, was long considered the humorous member of the family. Then once, during a public speaking event, Ellen found herself frightened by the crowd and used humor to get through the experience. She was a hit and received offers to do stand-up comedy. She began performing in 1981, bolstered by her mother’s moral and financial support.

After appearing for the first time on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in 1986, Ellen DeGeneres became a regular guest on the talk show circuit.

At age 23, DeGeneres began performing at a local coffeehouse. Her big debut arrived five years later in 1986. Acting on a tip from Jay Leno, The Tonight Show starring Johnny Carson sent a booking agent to catch DeGeneres’ act at the Improv in Hollywood. As a result of that set, DeGeneres appeared on The Tonight Show and earned the distinction of being the only female comic to be invited by Carson to sit on the famed couch during her first visit.

DeGeneres then began making regular appearances on the talk show circuit, including performances on The Late Show with David Letterman, The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Later with Greg Kinnear, Larry King Live, and Good Morning America. She was also profiled in detail on ABC’s PrimeTime Live.

A unique combination of kind and funny, the comedian became a popular choice to host major awards telecasts. She was tapped to host the Grammys in 1996 and 1997, the Emmy Awards in 2001 and 2005, and the Academy Awards in 2007 and 2014.

Meanwhile, she was still working in stand-up. DeGeneres received two Emmy Award nominations in 2004 for her HBO comedy special Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now. Then, after taking a 15-year break, the comedian’s first Netflix stand-up special, Ellen Degeneres: Relatable, was released in December 2018. Five years later, her final special, Ellen Degeneres: For Your Approval, premiered on the same streaming service in September 2024.

Her wit won over audiences, and DeGeneres found further success as an actor on her own primetime sitcom. The self-titled TV show, Ellen, series was originally titled These Friends of Mine but was renamed in 1994. From that point, the show evolved from its beginnings as an ensemble effort into a showcase for DeGeneres.

The show faced strong criticism when, in April 1997, DeGeneres’ character became the first lead in sitcom history to openly acknowledge her homosexuality on air. An ABC affiliate in Birmingham, Alabama, refused to air the landmark episode. Fearing controversy, some of the show’s sponsors—Daimler Chrysler, among them—withdrew advertisements.

Several episodes following her reveal had gay themes and, throughout the remainder of the season, DeGeneres and ABC executives faced a storm of criticism. But the show also received rounds of applause from gay-friendly activists, including DeGeneres’ mother, Betty, who appeared on numerous talk shows in support of her daughter. Despite a supportive audience, an Emmy Award for the coming-out episode, and the show’s groundbreaking place in television history, Ellen was canceled in 1998.

DeGeneres later revealed the difficulties she faced in coming out—from the Ellen executives who advised her against doing so to the backlash she faced for making her personal life public. Appearing on Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast in 2018, she recalled the humiliating feeling of being the subject of late-night talk show jokes while rejecting the premise that she was an LGBTQ “leader” simply because she didn’t want to keep the secret anymore.

After a handful of years away from the spotlight, DeGeneres returned to TV with a self-titled talk show. The Ellen DeGeneres Show debuted in September 2003 and quickly became a big hit with daytime viewers. The show won a slew of awards, including 64 Daytime Emmys for a daytime talk show.

Underscoring her popularity, DeGeneres was chosen to fill the coveted fourth slot as a judge on American Idol in 2009. She replaced outgoing judge Paula Abdul.

In 2020, however, The Ellen DeGeneres Show and its host became embroiled in controversy when several current and former staffers accused DeGeneres of creating a “toxic work environment” behind the scenes.

The allegations came as a stark contrast to the way Degeneres represented herself on screen, signing off every episode with the catch phrase, “Be kind to one another.” Staffers also reported experiencing racism, fear, intimidation, and sexual misconduct at the hands of other producers. Two years later, The Ellen Degeneres Show came to an end after 19 seasons, airing its final episode in June 2022.

By the time her show was canceled, DeGeneres had already made the move to the big screen, starring in the dark comedy Mr. Wrong (1996) as a woman in search of the perfect man. She also appeared in the comedy EdTV (1999), starring Matthew McConaughey, and the television production of If These Walls Could Talk 2 (2000), in which she shared a much-publicized love scene with Sharon Stone.

Also in 2003, DeGeneres lent her voice to the animated box-office smash Finding Nemo, in which she plays a friendly yet forgetful blue tang fish named Dory. The actor later reprised her role in the 2016 sequel, Finding Dory.

DeGeneres is the author of several books, including My Point... and I Do Have One (1995), Seriously... I’m Kidding (2011), and Home (2015).

Her film work slowed after her talk show took off, but she’s continued to work mostly behind the scenes as an executive producer of several television shows including Bethenny (2012-2014), Repeat After Me (2015), One Big Happy (2015), Little Big Shots (2015), and her HGTV reality competition show, Ellen’s Design Challenge.

Juggling many roles in Hollywood, DeGeneres has continued building her empire. She owns her own record label called eleveneleven. In 2015, she launched the lifestyle brand Ed by Ellen, which sells shoes, home and baby items, accessories, and a pet line.

She is an avid animal rights and gay rights activist as well as a vegan. In early 2018, as part of a 60^th birthday gift from her wife, the TV personality learned of plans to create the Ellen DeGeneres Campus of the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund in Rwanda, the first initiative of the new Ellen DeGeneres Wildlife Fund.

By that time, the comedian had already received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama for her contribution to the arts. The former president bestowed the highest civilian honor on DeGeneres in November 2016.

At January 2020 Golden Globes, DeGeneres was presented with the honorary Carol Burnett Award for excellence in television. She became the second recipient of the honor, following its namesake the previous year.

Portia de Rossi and Ellen DeGeneres have been married since 2008.

DeGeneres has been married to Portia de Rossi, an Australian-American model and actor, for more than 15 years.

DeGeneres and de Rossi became involved in December 2004. Their wedding, on August 16, 2008, followed California’s legalization of unions and is perhaps the highest-profile gay marriage to date. In 2010, de Rossi was granted permission to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres.

Prior to her marriage, DeGeneres dated actor Anne Heche for several years. The couple bought a home in Los Angeles together in 1999, then despite publicly announcing their desire to be married, they broke up in August 2000. DeGeneres then dated Alexandra Hedison for a few years before meeting de Rossi.

DeGeneres first shared she had been sexually abused by her stepfather in a 2005 interview with Allure magazine. She elaborated on the topic during an appearance on David Letterman’s Netflix show in 2019, recalling how her stepfather insisted on “examining” her breasts for lumps after her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer in the 1970s.

• I think what saved me is being honest. I think I somehow had the courage to do something and to say something that I knew would possibly end my career. Instead of making business more important, I made my soul and my life more important. And I think by being truthful, and being honest, that saved me.
• I watch people’s behavior and notice things. I think that’s why I became a comedian. I notice how stupid the things we do are.
• I think adults out there need to know they’re doing the same thing. It’s not just kids. There are adults out there that are bullying, and they need to be kind.
• Nothing says holidays like a cheese log.
• My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was 60. She’s 97 now, and we don’t know where the hell she is!
• Sometimes you can’t see yourself clearly until you see yourself through the eyes of others.
• Procrastinate now. Don’t put it off.
• Start thinking positively, you will notice the difference. Instead of, “I think I’m a loser,” try, “I am definitely a loser.” Stop being wishy-washy about things! How much more of a loser can you be if you don’t even know you are one? Either you are a loser, or you’re not. Which is it, stupid?
• There are all sorts of books offering advice on how to deal with life-threatening situations, but where’s the advice on dealing with embarrassing ones?
• Life is short. If you don’t believe me, ask a butterfly. Their average lifespan is a mere five to 14 days.
• I’m not like a depressed person. But I am saddened by how people treat one another and how we are so shut off from one another and how we judge one another, when the truth is, we are all one connected thing.

Fact Check: We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn’t look right, contact us!

Biography.com Editors

Staff Editorial Team and Contributors

The Biography.com staff is a team of people-obsessed and news-hungry editors with decades of collective experience. We have worked as daily newspaper reporters, major national magazine editors, and as editors-in-chief of regional media publications. Among our ranks are book authors and award-winning journalists. Our staff also works with freelance writers, researchers, and other contributors to produce the smart, compelling profiles and articles you see on our site. To meet the team, visit our About Us page: https://www.biography.com/about/a43602329/about-us

Catherine Caruso

Associate Profiles Editor

Catherine Caruso joined the Biography.com staff in August 2024, having previously worked as a freelance journalist for several years. She is a graduate of Syracuse University, where she studied English literature. When she’s not working on a new story, you can find her reading, hitting the gym, or watching too much TV.