Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres was born in Metairie, Louisiana in 1958. She graduated from high school in 1976 and then attended University of New Orleans, leaving after one semester to take a job doing clerical work at a law firm. DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small venues in Louisiana, and by the early 1980s, she was touring nationally. She first appeared on The Tonight Show in 1986, and in 1994, DeGeneres got her own TV show, the sitcom Ellen. After coming out as gay in real life, DeGeneres’s character on Ellen also came out in 1997. Since 2003, DeGeneres has hosted the popular daytime TV talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.