Naomi Watts
Naomi Watts in 2012
Born	Naomi Ellen Watts (1968-09-28) 28 September 1968 (age 43) Shoreham, Kent, England
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1986–present
Partner	Liev Schreiber (2005–present; 2 children)

Naomi Ellen Watts (born 28 September 1968) is a British^[1] actress who began her career in Australian television, where she appeared in series such as Hey Dad..! (1990), Brides of Christ (1991), E Street (1991) and Home and Away (1991). Her film debut was the 1986 drama For Love Alone. Her following portrayals included roles in B-class movies, such as the 1996 horror film Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering, as well as roles in television and independent films.

Watts gained critical acclaim following her work in David Lynch's 2001 psychological thriller Mulholland Drive, starring alongside Justin Theroux and Laura Harring. The next year, she received public recognition for her participation in the box office hit horror film The Ring. In 2004, she received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Actress as well as for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for her portrayal of Cristina Peck in Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams, alongside Sean Penn. Other film roles include the 2005 remake of King Kong, the 2006 remake of The Painted Veil, the 2007 thriller Eastern Promises, and the 2009 thriller The International. In 2010, Watts portrayed Valerie Plame Wilson, opposite Sean Penn as Joe Wilson, in Fair Game.

In 2002, she was included in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People. In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, which helps to raise awareness of AIDS-related issues. She has participated in several fundraisers for the cause, and she is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards.

Early life and education[link]

Watts was born in Shoreham, Kent, England. She is the daughter of Myfanwy Edwards (née Roberts), a Welsh antiques dealer and costume and set designer,^[2] and Peter Watts, an English road manager and sound engineer who worked with Pink Floyd.^[3][4] Her parents divorced when she was four years old.^[4][5] After the divorce, Watts and her brother, Ben, were raised by their grandparents and two aunts, as well as her mother. Watts' mother relocated the family several times around Wales and England, in most cases to be near a new boyfriend. Peter Watts left Pink Floyd in 1974, and he and Myfanwy were later reconciled. Two years later, in August 1976, he was found dead in his flat of Notting Hill of an apparent heroin overdose.^[6]

Following his death, Watts' mother moved the family to Llanfawr Farm, on Anglesey in North Wales, where they lived with Watts's maternal grandparents, Nikki and Hugh Edwards Roberts. During this time, she attended a Welsh language school, Ysgol Gyfun Llangefni, where she carried out her studies for several years.^[7] Watts described her mother (also an actress) as a hippie "with passive-aggressive tendencies" and no money, who used to threaten to send her and her brother to foster care in order to get her parents to provide for them.^[8]

Watts has stated that she wanted to become an actress since she watched the 1980 film Fame.^[9] Watts moved to Australia with her mother and brother when she was 14, during the early 1980s (her maternal grandmother was Australian).^[4][10] Her mother worked as a stylist for television commercials, then turning to costume designing, ultimately working for the soap opera Return To Eden. Watts was enrolled in acting lessons by her mother. She also auditioned for television advertising.^[6]

She attended Mosman High School and North Sydney Girls' High School, where she was a classmate of actress Nicole Kidman.^[11] Watts failed to graduate from school, after working as a papergirl, a negative cutter, and managing a Delicacies store in Sydney's north shore. She decided to become a model when she was 18. She signed with a models agency that sent her to Japan, but after several failed auditions she returned to Sydney.^[4] There, she was hired to work in advertising for a department store, that exposed her to the attention of Follow Me, a magazine which hired her as an assistant fashion editor.^[6] A casual invitation to participate in a drama workshop returned Watts to acting, and prompted her to quit her job and to seek to succeed as an actress.^[12]

Regarding her nationality, Watts has stated: "I consider myself British and have very happy memories of the UK. I spent the first 14 years of my life in England and Wales and never wanted to leave. When I was in Australia I went back to England a lot."^[13] She also has expressed her nationalism for Australia, declaring: "I consider myself very Australian and very connected to Australia, in fact when people say where is home, I say Australia, because those are my most powerful memories."^[14]

Career[link]

Early work, 1986–2000[link]

Watts's career began in Australian television, where she made brief appearances in commercials.^[10] The 1986 drama For Love Alone, set in the 1930s and based on Christina Stead's 1945 best-seller novel of the same name, marked her debut in film.^[15] The director John Duigan invited her to take a supporting role in his 1991 indie film, Flirting, during the 1989 premiere of Dead Calm,^[10] after a five years absence in film.^[16] She was starred opposite future Hollywood up-and-comers Nicole Kidman and Thandie Newton. The movie received critical acclaim and was featured on Roger Ebert's list of the 10 best movies of 1992.^[17] The same year, she took the part of Frances Heffernan, a girl who struggles to find friends behind the walls of a Sydney Catholic school,^[18] in the award winning mini-series^[19] Brides of Christ, and appeared in four episodes of Home and Away.^[20] In 1993 she appeared in another of Duigan's pictures, Wide Sargasso Sea.

The difficulty at finding agents, producers and directors during the transition from Australia to Los Angeles frustrated her initial efforts. Her financial situation led her to take a job out of the film industry, when experiencing problems like being unable to pay the rent of her apartment and losing her medical insurance.^[6] After a small role in the 1993 comedy picture Matinee, which featured John Goodman in the leading role, she landed the supporting role of "Jet Girl" in the futuristic 1995 film Tank Girl.^[21]

Throughout the rest of the decade, she took supporting roles on television, including the series Sleepwalkers,^[22] and numerous B-list productions, such Children of the Corn IV, in which children in a small town become possessed under the command of a wrongfully murdered child preacher^[4] and Bermuda Triangle, where she played a former documentary filmmaker who disappears in the Bermuda Triangle,.^[23] Much of her early career is filled with near misses in casting, as she was up for significant roles in films such as the 1997 The Postman and Meet the Parents, which eventually went to other actresses.^[24] In Dangerous Beauty, she played Giulia De Lezze.^[10] In 1999, she played Alice in the romantic comedy Strange Planet and the Texan student Holly Maddux in The Hunt for the Unicorn Killer.^[25][26]

2001–2004[link]

Watts with filmmaker David Lynch at 2001 the Cannes Film Festival

Director David Lynch interviewed Watts, without having seen any of her previous work,^[27] for his psychological thriller Mulholland Drive. The film, which also starred Justin Theroux and Laura Harring, was highly acclaimed by critics and would become Watts's breakthrough. Lynch stated about his selection of Watts, "I saw someone that I felt had a tremendous talent, and I saw someone who had a beautiful soul, an intelligence—possibilities for a lot of different roles, so it was a beautiful full package."^[28] The film premiered at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival and received a large number of awards and nominations, including the Best Actress distinction for Watts from the National Society of Film Critics and the American Film Institute.^[29] The surrealist film following the story of the aspiring actress Betty Elms (Watts) attracted controversy with its strong lesbian theme.^[30][31] She was praised by the critics, including Peter Bradshaw from The Guardian, who wrote, "Watts's face metamorphoses miraculously from fresh-faced beauty to a frenzied, teary scowl of ugliness. She must surely be a favourite for the best actress Academy award.",^[32] and Emanuel Levy, who wrote, "[...]Naomi Watts, in a brilliant performance, a young, wide-eyed and grotesquely cheerful blonde, full of high hopes to make it big in Hollywood."^[33]

In 2002, she starred in one of the biggest box office hits of that year, the English language remake of the Japanese horror film The Ring, directed by Gore Verbinski. The film, which also starred Martin Henderson and Brian Cox, grossed around US$129 million domestically (equivalent to US$166.7 million in 2012).^[34] The film received favourable reviews; Watts portrayed Rachel Keller, a journalist investigating the strange deaths of her niece and other teenagers after watching a mysterious videotape, and receiving a phone call announcing their deaths in seven days.^[35] Her performance was praised by critics, including Paul Clinton of CNN.com, who stated that she "is excellent in this leading role, which proves that her stellar performance in Mulholland Drive was not a fluke. She strikes a perfect balance between scepticism and the slow realisation of the truth in regard to the deadly power of the videotape."^[36]

The following year, she took the part of Julia Cook in Gregor Jordan's Australian film Ned Kelly opposite Heath Ledger, Orlando Bloom, and Geoffrey Rush,^[37] as well as the Merchant-Ivory film Le Divorce portraying Roxeanne de Persand, a poet who is abandoned by her husband Charles-Henri de Persand at the time she is pregnant. Roxeanne and her sister Isabel (Kate Hudson) dispute the ownership of a painting by Georges de la Tour with the family of Henri's lover. Entertainment Weekly gave the film a "C" rating and lamented Watts's performance: "I'm disappointed to report that Hudson and Watts have no chemistry as sisters, perhaps because Watts never seems like the expatriate artiste she's supposed to be playing".^[38]

Her performance opposite Sean Penn and Benicio del Toro in director Alejandro González Iñárritu's 2003 drama 21 Grams earned Watts her first Academy Award nomination as Best Actress later that year.^[39] In the story, told in a non-lineal manner, she portrayed Cristina Peck, a grief-stricken woman living a suburban life after the killing of her husband and two children by Jack Jordan (Benicio del Toro), who started a relationship with the critically ill academic mathematician Paul Rivers (Sean Penn). She said of the nomination, "It's far beyond what I ever dreamed for – that would have been too far fetched".^[40] She also was nominated for Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role, as well as many other nominations and acclaim.^[41] The New York Times praised her: "Because Ms. Watts reinvents herself with each performance, it's easy to forget how brilliant she is. She has a boldness that comes from a lack of overemphasis, something actresses sometimes do to keep up with Mr. Penn".^[42] The San Francisco Chronicle wrote: "Watts is riveting, but she's much better in scenes of extreme emotion than in those requiring subtlety."^[43]

She produced and starred alongside Mark Ruffalo in the well-received 2004 independent film We Don't Live Here Anymore, directed by John Curran. Watts played Edith Evans. The film is a drama which was based on the short stories We Don't Live Here Anymore and Adultery by Andre Dubus, and depicts the crisis of two married couples.^[44] She reunited with Sean Penn in The Assassination of Richard Nixon, which was set in 1974. She played Marie Andersen Bicke, the wife of the would-be presidential assassin Samuel J. Bicke (Penn).^[45] The same year, she also teamed up with Jude Law and Dustin Hoffman in David O. Russell's ensemble comedy I Heart Huckabees.^[46]

2005–2008[link]

Watts at the London premiere of Eastern Promises in 2007

In 2005, Watts starred and co-produced with director/screenwriter Scott Coffey her next film, the semi-autobiographical drama Ellie Parker, which depicted the struggle of an Australian actress in Hollywood.^[47] Movie critic Roger Ebert praised Watts' performance: "The character is played by Watts with courage, fearless observation, and a gift for timing that is so uncanny it can make points all by itself."^[48]

Watts returned in the lead role in the sequel to the Ring, The Ring Two. The film received several negative reviews,^[49] but was a major success at the box office, with a over US$161 million worldwide gross (equivalent to US$191.6 million in 2012) and was once again praised for her performance.^[50] She starred in the 2005 remake of King Kong as Ann Darrow. The role, portrayed by Fay Wray in the original film, proved to be Watts' most commercially successful film yet. Helmed by The Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, the film won high praise and grossed US$550 million worldwide (equivalent to US$654.5 million in 2012).^[51][52] The Seattle Post-Intelligencer praised her performance: "The third act becomes a star-crossed, "Beauty and the Beast" parable far more operatic and tragic than anything the original filmmakers could have imagined exquisitely pantomimed by Watts with a poignancy and passion that rates Oscar consideration."^[53]

About the evolution of her portrayals, Watts stated: "You'd better know why you're here as an actor ... I'm here to work out my shit, what my problems are and know who I am, so by cracking open these characters perhaps that shines a light on it a little bit better ... I know myself. I mean, of course I know myself better but the journey and search continue because hopefully we're evolving and growing all the time.^[54]

Watts starred in the 2006 remake of the 1934 film The Painted Veil with Edward Norton and Liev Schreiber. Watts played in the film Kitty Garstin, the daughter of a prominent scientist, that marries Walter Fane (Norton) for his reputation as a physician and bacteriologist. The movie centers in the relationship of the couple at the time they move to China, were Fane is stationed to study infectious diseases.^[55] Comparing her portrayal with Greta Garbo's in the original movie, The San Francisco Chronicle wrote "Watts makes the role work on her own terms — her Kitty is more desperate, more foolish, more miserable and more driven ... and her spiritual journey is greater.^[56]

Also that year, she provided the voice of a small role, Suzie Rabbit, in the psychological thriller film Inland Empire.^[57] The following year, she appeared in David Cronenberg's crime thriller Eastern Promises with Viggo Mortensen. The film was released to critical acclaim for the film itself and for her performance.^[58] A moderate box office success, it grossed US$56 million worldwide (equivalent to US$66.6 million in 2012).^[59] Critic Matthew Turner of View London wrote that Watts "strikes an intriguing balance between strength and emotional vulnerability."^[58]

In 2008, she appeared in Funny Games, a 2008 remake of the 1997 Austrian film by director Michael Haneke, alongside Tim Roth. In the film, she portrayed Ann Farber, who with her husband and son are held hostage by a pair of sociopathic teenagers. The film opened on 20 October 2007 at the London Film Festival.^[60]

2009–present[link]

Watts at the 2011 Deauville American Film Festival

In 2009, Watts starred alongside Clive Owen the political thriller The International. She played a Manhattan assistant district attorney who partners with the titular agent to take down a bank.^[61] During an interview, Watts commented on her role: "She was operating in this fast-moving world and was a great bouncing board for her colleague, Salinger, but also trying to balance that with motherhood as well, and I think I definitely relate to that now and hopefully other career mothers will too."^[62] The International was well received by critics,^[63] and grossed over US$60 million (equivalent to $65 million in 2012). worldwide.^[64]

She next appeared in the American drama Mother and Child, which was screened at the Sundance Film Festival.^[65] She portrayed the role of Elizabeth, a lawyer who never knew her biological mother. Watts co-starred the movie along with Annette Bening, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson.^[66] Mother and Child received several favourable reviews, and Watts' performance was praised by Tom Long of Detroit News, who stated that she "has the ability to make such a ragged transition somehow work."^[67] She was nominated for the "Best Actress" award at the Australian Film Institute Awards.^[68] Watts was also nominated for an Independent Spirit Award in the category of Best Supporting Female.^[69]

Her next movie, the Woody Allen comedy You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger, opened at the 2010 Cannes Film Festival on 15 May 2010.^[70] She portrayed Sally, a woman who has a troubled marriage with author Roy (played by Josh Brolin). Antonio Banderas, Freida Pinto, Lucy Punch and Anthony Hopkins also co-starred in the film, which received mixed reviews from critics^[71] and grossed over US$26 (equivalent to $27.7 million in 2012).^[72]

She starred in the film Fair Game, which opened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010, and was later released in the United States on 5 November 2010.^[73] Based on Valerie Plame's memoir, Fair Game: My Life as a Spy, My Betrayal by the White House, also marks the third pairing of Watts with Sean Penn after 21 Grams and The Assassination of Richard Nixon.^[74] Watts was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Actress for her performance in Fair Game.^[75] Boxoffice magazine wrote: "Watts doesn't get the big emotional scenes that have characterized much of her past work, instead she plays Valerie as a woman suddenly in a corner when her identity goes public. It's brilliantly understated and admirable work."^[76]

In January 2010, she was cast in the thriller film Dream House, which was released in September 2011. Directed by Jim Sheridan, Watts starred in the film along with Daniel Craig and Rachel Weisz.^[77] In October 2010, it was announced that Watts had landed the role of Marilyn Monroe in the film Blonde, which was set to start shooting in January 2011, but has been delayed.^[78] In early 2011, Watts was cast in Clint Eastwood's J. Edgar, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in the starring role. Watts will play Edgar's secretary Helen Gandy.^[79] Watts is also scheduled to star in the remake of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds (1963). Due to her frequent portrayals in film revivals, the press has labelled her the "queen of remakes".^[80] Watts has stated that there have only been "discussions" about the remake.^[81]

Personal life[link]

Watts with her partner Liev Schreiber in 2012.

Her father's manic laugh can be heard in Pink Floyd's "Speak to Me" and "Brain Damage" from The Dark Side of the Moon.^[82] Watts is pictured in her mother's arms with her father, brother, the band, and other crew members, in the hardback/softcover edition of drummer Nick Mason's autobiography of the band Inside Out.^[83]

Watts was in a relationship with director Stephen Hopkins^[82] in the 1990s and actor Heath Ledger^[84] from August 2002 to May 2004. Since the spring of 2005, Watts' has been in a relationship with the actor Liev Schreiber. She confirmed in an interview in late January 2009 that Schreiber had in fact given her a ring (which she was not wearing at the time) but that neither of them wanted to rush into marriage.^[85] Schreiber, known to play tricks on the media, had once before called her his wife in 2007, but later revealed that it was a joke.^[86] The couple's first son, Alexander "Sasha" Pete, was born on 25 July 2007 in Los Angeles, and their second son, Samuel "Sammy" Kai, on 13 December 2008 in New York City.^[87] After a temporary hiatus from acting, she returned to work with The International, her first project since becoming a mother.^[88] Watts stated in April 2010 that she would have a third child if she could guarantee a baby girl.^[89]

She considered converting to Buddhism after having gained interest for that religion during the shooting of The Painted Veil. She said of her religious beliefs, "I have some belief but I am not a strict Buddhist or anything yet".^[90] She practices the Transcendental Meditation technique.^[91] In 2002, she was featured in People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People.^[92]

Charity work[link]

In 2006, Watts became a goodwill ambassador for Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, it helps to raise awareness of AIDS issues. She has used her high profile and celebrity to call attention to the needs of people living with this disease.^[93] Watts participated in events and activities, including the 21st Annual AIDS Walk.^[94] She is presented as an inaugural member of AIDS Red Ribbon Awards. She has participated in campaigns for fundraising. On 1 December 2009, Watts was meeting with United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and joined the AIDS response at a dramatic public event commemorating World AIDS Day 2009.^[95] During the event, she said: "It has been both unfortunate and unfair for HIV infection to be considered a shameful disease, for people living with HIV to be judged as blameworthy, and for AIDS to be equated with certain death. I have personally seen that dignity and hope have been strongest among those whose lives were changed by HIV."^[96]

In 2011, she attended to a charity polo match in New York City along with Australian actors Hugh Jackman and Isla Fisher, which was intended to raise money to help victims of the 2010 Haiti earthquake.^[97]

Filmography[link]

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Naomi Watts

• Naomi Watts at the Internet Movie Database
• Naomi Watts at Yahoo! Movies
• Naomi Watts at People.com
• Naomi Watts at UNAIDS.org

Ellen DeGeneres
Ellen DeGeneres, Los Angeles, October 4, 2011
Birth name	Ellen Lee DeGeneres
Born	(1958-01-26) January 26, 1958 (age 54) Metairie, Louisiana, United States
Medium	Stand-up, television, film, books
Nationality	American
Years active	1981 – present
Influences	Steve Martin,[1] Woody Allen,[1] Bob Newhart,[1] Johnny Carson
Spouse	Portia de Rossi (2008–present)
Domestic partner(s)	Anne Heche (1997–2000) Alexandra Hedison (2001–2004)
Emmy Awards
Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series 1997 Ellen Outstanding Talk Show 2004 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Outstanding Talk Show Entertainment 2010 The Ellen Degeneres Show 2011 The Ellen Degeneres Show Outstanding Special Class Writing 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show Outstanding Talk Show Host 2005 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2006 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2007 The Ellen DeGeneres Show 2008 The Ellen DeGeneres Show
American Comedy Awards
Funniest Female Stand-Up Comic 1991 Funniest Female Performer in a TV Special 1994 46th Primetime Emmy Awards 2000 Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning
Saturn Award
Best Supporting Actress (film) 2003 Finding Nemo
Teen Choice Awards
Best Comedian 2011

Ellen Lee DeGeneres ( /dɨˈdʒɛnərəs/; born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

DeGeneres has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong, appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter, and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar animated film Finding Nemo, for which she was awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice performance won a Saturn Award. She was a judge on American Idol for one year, having joined the show in its ninth season. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. During the fourth season of Ellen in 1997, DeGeneres came out publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process. She has won thirteen Emmys and numerous other awards for her work and charitable efforts.

In November 2011, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton named her a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.^[2]

Early life and education[link]

DeGeneres was raised in Metairie, Louisiana, the daughter of Elizabeth Jane DeGeneres (née Pfeffer), a speech therapist, and Elliott Everett DeGeneres, an insurance agent.^[3][4] She has one brother, Vance DeGeneres, who is a producer and musician. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent. DeGeneres was raised as a Christian Scientist until the age of thirteen. In 1973, DeGeneres's parents filed for separation and were divorced the following year. Shortly after, Betty Jane remarried Roy Gruessendorf, who worked as a salesman. Betty Jane and Ellen moved with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas. Vance stayed with their birth father.

DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School in May 1976, after completing her first years of high school at Grace King High School in Metairie, Louisiana. She moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communication studies. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm with her cousin Laura Gillen. She also held a job selling clothes at the chain store the Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center.^{[citation needed]} Other working experiences included J.C. Penney,^[5] being a waitress at TGI Friday's and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, and a bartender. She relates much of her childhood and career experiences in her comedic work.

Ancestry[link]

On a February 9, 2011, episode of The Ellen DeGeneres Show, DeGeneres told her studio audience via a letter from the New England Genealogical Society that she is Kate Middleton's 15th cousin via their shared common ancestor Thomas Fairfax.^[6]

Stand-up comedy[link]

DeGeneres started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffee houses. By 1981 she was the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans. DeGeneres cites Woody Allen and Steve Martin as her main influences at this time.^[1] In the early 1980s she began to tour nationally, being named Showtime's Funniest Person in America in 1982.^[7] In 1986 she appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, who likened her to Bob Newhart.^[1] When Carson invited her over for an onscreen chat after her performance, she became the first comedienne in the show's history to be treated this way.^[7]

Film career[link]

Early screen work[link]

Ellen DeGeneres at the Emmy Awards, 1997

Television and film work in the late 1980s and early 1990s included roles on television in Open House and in the film Coneheads. In 1992, producers Neal Marlens and Carol Black cast DeGeneres in their sitcom Laurie Hill, in the role of Nurse Nancy MacIntyre. The series was canceled after only four episodes, but Marlens and Black were so impressed with DeGeneres' performance that they soon cast her in their next ABC pilot, These Friends of Mine, which they co-created with David S. Rosenthal.

[edit] Ellen's Energy Adventure

DeGeneres starred in a series of films for a show named Ellen's Energy Adventure, which is part of the Universe of Energy attraction and pavilion at Walt Disney World's Epcot. The film also featured Bill Nye, Alex Trebek, Michael Richards, and Jamie Lee Curtis. The show revolved around DeGeneres's falling asleep and finding herself in an energy-themed version of Jeopardy!, playing against an old rival, portrayed by Curtis, and Albert Einstein. The next film had DeGeneres hosting an educational look at energy, co-hosted with Nye. The ride first opened on September 15, 1996, as Ellen's Energy Crisis, but was quickly renamed to the more positive-sounding Ellen's Energy Adventure.

Television career[link]

[edit] Ellen (1994–1998)

At the Governor's Ball after the 46th Annual Emmy Awards telecast, Sept. 1994

DeGeneres's comedy material became the basis of the successful 1994–1998 sitcom Ellen, named These Friends of Mine during its first season. The ABC show was popular in its first few seasons due in part to DeGeneres's style of observational humor; it was often referred to as a "female Seinfeld."^[8]

Ellen reached its height of popularity in February 1997, when DeGeneres made her homosexuality public on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Subsequently her character on the sitcom came out of the closet in April to her therapist, played by Oprah Winfrey, revealing that she is gay.^[9] The coming-out episode, titled "The Puppy Episode", was one of the highest-rated episodes of the show. Later episodes of the series did not match its popularity, and after declining ratings, the show was canceled. DeGeneres returned to the stand-up comedy circuit, and later re-established herself as a successful talk show host.

[edit] The Ellen Show

DeGeneres returned to series television in 2001 with a new CBS sitcom, The Ellen Show.

[edit] The Ellen DeGeneres Show

DeGeneres launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show in September 2003. Amid a crop of several celebrity-hosted talk shows surfacing at the beginning of that season, such as those of Sharon Osbourne and Rita Rudner, her show has consistently risen in the Nielsen ratings and received widespread critical praise. It was nominated for 11 Daytime Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four, including Best Talk Show. The show has won 25 Emmy Awards in its first three seasons on the air. DeGeneres is known for her dancing and singing with the audience at the beginning of the show and during commercial breaks. She often gives away free prizes and trips to her studio audience with the help of her sponsors.

DeGeneres celebrated her thirty-year class reunion by flying her graduating class to California to be guests on her show in February 2006. She presented Atlanta High School with a surprise gift of a new electronic LED marquee sign.

In May 2006, DeGeneres made a surprise appearance at the Tulane University commencement in New Orleans. Following George H. W. Bush and Bill Clinton to the podium, she came out in a bathrobe and furry slippers. "They told me everyone would be wearing robes," she said. Ellen then went on to make another commencement speech at Tulane in 2009.^[10]

The show broadcast for a week from Universal Studios Orlando in March 2007. Skits included DeGeneres going on the Hulk Roller Coaster Ride and the Jaws Boat Ride.

In May 2007, DeGeneres was placed on bed rest due to a torn ligament in her back. She continued hosting her show from a hospital bed, tended to by a nurse, explaining "the show must go on, as they say." Guests sat in hospital beds as well.

On May 1, 2009, DeGeneres celebrated her 1000th episode, featuring celebrity guests such as Oprah, Justin Timberlake, and Paris Hilton, among others.

[edit] American Idol

On September 9, 2009, it was confirmed that DeGeneres would replace Paula Abdul as a judge of the ninth season of American Idol. Her role started after the contestant auditions, at the beginning of "Hollywood Week".^[11][12] It is reported that DeGeneres also signed a contract to be a judge on the show for at least five seasons.^[13] She made her American Idol debut on February 9, 2010.

On July 29, 2010, DeGeneres and Fox executives announced that the comedienne would be departing from the series after one season. In a statement, DeGeneres said that the series "didn't feel like the right fit for me".^[14]

Award shows[link]

2001 Emmy Awards[link]

DeGeneres received wide exposure on November 4, 2001, when she hosted the televised broadcast of the Emmy Awards. Presented after two cancellations due to network concerns that a lavish ceremony following the September 11, 2001 attacks would appear insensitive, the show required a more somber tone that would also allow viewers to temporarily forget the tragedy. DeGeneres received several standing ovations for her performance that evening, which included the line: "What would bug the Taliban more than seeing a gay woman in a suit surrounded by Jews?"

In August 2005, DeGeneres hosted the 2005 Primetime Emmy Awards ceremony held on September 18, 2005. This was three weeks after Hurricane Katrina, making it the second time she hosted the Emmys following a national tragedy. She also hosted the Grammy Awards in 1996 and in 1997.

Ellen DeGeneres in 2004

79th Academy Awards[link]

On September 7, 2006, DeGeneres was selected to host the 79th Academy Awards ceremony, which took place on February 25, 2007.^[15] This makes her the first openly gay or lesbian person to have hosted the event. During the Awards show, DeGeneres said, "What a wonderful night, such diversity in the room, in a year when there's been so many negative things said about people's race, religion, and sexual orientation. And I want to put this out there: If there weren't blacks, Jews and gays, there would be no Oscars, or anyone named Oscar, when you think about that."^[16] Reviews of her hosting gig were positive, with one saying, "DeGeneres rocked, as she never forgot that she wasn't just there to entertain the Oscar nominees but also to tickle the audience at home."^[17] Regis Philbin said in an interview that "the only complaint was there's not enough Ellen."

DeGeneres was nominated for an Emmy Award as host of the Academy Awards broadcast.^[18]

2007 Writers Guild strike[link]

DeGeneres, like many actors who are also writers, is a member of both the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) and the Writers Guild of America (WGA). Thus, although DeGeneres verbally supported the 2007 WGA strike, she did not support it when she crossed the picket line the day after the strike began.^[19][20] Her representatives said she was competing with other first-run syndicated shows during the competitive November sweeps period, and that she could not break her contracts or risk her show's losing its time slot. As a show of solidarity with the strikers, DeGeneres omitted her monologue during the strike, typically written by WGA writers.^[21] The WGA condemned her while the AFTRA defended her.^{[22][23][24][25]}

Other ventures[link]

Ellen at Tulane University in 2009

Voice acting[link]

DeGeneres lent her voice to the role of Dory, a fish with short-term memory loss, in the summer 2003 hit animated Disney/Pixar film Finding Nemo. The film's director, Andrew Stanton, claimed that he chose Ellen because she "changed the subject five times before one sentence had finished" on her show.^[26] For her performance as Dory, DeGeneres won the Saturn Award from the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films for "Best Supporting Actress"; "Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie" from the Nickelodeon Kids Choice Awards; and the Annie Award from the International Animated Film Association for "Outstanding Voice Acting". She was also nominated for a Chicago Film Critics Association Award in the "Best Supporting Actress" category. She also provided the voice of the dog in the prologue of the Eddie Murphy feature film Dr. Dolittle. Her win of the Saturn Award marked the first and only time the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films has given the acting award for a voice performance.

Commercial spokeswoman[link]

In November 2004, DeGeneres appeared, dancing, in an ad campaign for American Express. Her most recent American Express commercial, a two-minute black-and-white spot in which she works with animals, debuted in November 2006 and was created by Ogilvy and Mather. In 2007, the commercial won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Commercial.

DeGeneres began working with Cover Girl Cosmetics in September 2008, for which she has been criticized, as her animal-friendly values clash with Procter and Gamble's (the maker of Cover Girl Cosmetics) animal testing.^[27] Her face is the focus of new Cover Girl advertisements starting in January 2009. The beauty campaign will be DeGeneres's first.^[28]

On December 3, 2011, DeGeneres headlined the third annual “Change Begins Within” gala for the David Lynch Foundation held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.^[29][30]

In Spring 2012, DeGeneres becomes the spokesperson for J.C. Penney in a tour and advertising campaign.^[5]

Eleveneleven[link]

On May 26, 2010, Ellen announced on her show that she was starting her own record label entitled "eleveneleven". Ellen explained her choice of name, claiming that she often sees the number 11:11 when looking at her clocks, that she found Greyson on the 11th, and that the singer's soccer jersey has the number 11.^[31] She mentioned that she had been looking for videos of performances on YouTube to start her label. The acts thus far signed to the label are Greyson Chance, Tom Andrews, and Jessica Simpson.^[32]

Personal life[link]

DeGeneres with Anne Heche at the 1997 Emmy Awards.

DeGeneres was in a relationship (1997–2000) with actress Anne Heche.^[33] From 2001 to 2004, DeGeneres and actress/director/photographer Alexandra Hedison were in a relationship. They appeared on the cover of The Advocate after their separation had already been announced to the media.^[34]

Since 2004, DeGeneres has had a relationship with Portia de Rossi. After the overturn of the same-sex marriage ban in California, DeGeneres announced on a May 2008 show that she and de Rossi were engaged,^[35][36] and gave de Rossi a three-carat pink diamond ring.^[37] They were married on August 16, 2008, at their home, with nineteen guests including their mothers.^[37] The passage of Proposition 8 cast doubt on the legal status of their marriage, but a subsequent California Supreme Court judgment validated it because it occurred before November 4, 2008.^[38][39]

DeGeneres and de Rossi live in Beverly Hills, with three dogs and four cats,^[40] and both are vegan.^[41] DeGeneres served as campaign ambassador to Farm Sanctuary's Adopt-A-Turkey Project in 2010, asking people to start "a new tradition by adopting a turkey instead of eating one" at Thanksgiving.^[42]

On August 6, 2010, de Rossi filed a petition to legally change her name to Portia Lee James DeGeneres^[43] The petition was granted on September 23, 2010.^[44]

In her book Love, Ellen, DeGeneres's mother Betty DeGeneres describes being initially shocked when her daughter came out as a lesbian, but has become one of her strongest supporters, an active member of Parents & Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign's Coming Out Project.

In 2007, Forbes estimated DeGeneres's net worth at US$65 million.^[45]

She is a fan of the National Football League, and has shown particular support for the New Orleans Saints and the Green Bay Packers.^[46] In 2011, she attended a Saints practice dressed as Packers Hall of Famer Don Hutson.^[47]

Filmography[link]

Film[link]

Television[link]

Discography[link]

Awards and honors[link]

Daytime Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Talk Show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011
• Outstanding Talk Show Host, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Outstanding Special Class Writing, The Ellen DeGeneres Show – 2005, 2006, 2007

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series, Ellen: "The Puppy Episode" – 1997

Mark Twain Prize for American Humor by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts

• 2012 ^[48]

People's Choice Awards

• Favorite Funny Female Star – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
• Favorite Talk Show Host – 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010
• Favorite Yes I Chose This Star – 2008

Kids' Choice Awards

• Favorite Voice from an Animated Movie – 2004

Tulane University President's Medal

• 2009^[49]

Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards

• 2000 Lucy Award, actor, If These Walls Could Talk 2, in recognition of her excellence and innovation in her creative works that have enhanced the perception of women through the medium of television.^[50]

Bibliography[link]

• DeGeneres, Ellen (1995). My Point...And I Do Have One. New York: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-09955-8. 
• DeGeneres, Ellen (2003). The Funny Thing Is.... New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-7432-4761-2. 
• DeGeneres, Ellen (2011). Seriously...I'm Kidding. New York: Grand Central Publishing. ISBN 0-446-58502-5. 

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ellen DeGeneres

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Ellen DeGeneres

Wikinews has related news: Portia de Rossi talks about Ellen DeGeneres, sexuality Award show producers try Emmy Idol

• The Ellen DeGeneres Show's official website
• Ellen DeGeneres at the Internet Movie Database
• Ellen DeGeneres at People.com