Ellen Degeneres

Some Lesser Known Facts About Ellen Degeneres

• Does Ellen Degeneres smoke: Not Known

• Does Ellen Degeneres drink alcohol: Yes

• Ellen DeGeneres is of French, Irish, English and German descent.

• Before making it big in the entertainment industry, Ellen worked as a bartender, a waitress, a paralegal, a vaccum cleaner saleswoman and a painter.

• Ellen DeGeneres began performing stand-up in 1981 and was named Showtime’s “Funniest Person in America” the following year.

• She is the 11th cousin of Singer-Actress Madonna.

• When Degeneres appeared on “The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson” in 1986, she became the first female comedian ever to be asked to sit on the “hot seat.”

• In 1997, Ellen came out publicly as a lesbian. For this display of courage, almost 20 years later, President Barack Obama honored her with the Medal of Freedom. In a speech to honour Ellen’s contribution, she was referred to as someone who “lifted spirits” and “brought joy”.

• Ellen was the voice of Dory in Finding Nemo.

• In 2005, Ellen set up a ‘Hurricane Katrina’ relief fund that raised $7 million.

• She finds herself unfortunate to have turned down a role in the renowned American Sitcom- Friends.

• Because of her love for music, Ellen launched her own record label, eleveneleven, in 2010.

• In November 2011, the then Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, named Ellen DeGeneres a Special Envoy for Global AIDS Awareness.

• Ellen also received the Mark Twain Prize for American Humor in 2012.

• In March 2014, host Ellen tweeted a “selfie” of herself with a number of stars in attendance at the year’s edition of Academy Awards. However, the picture crashed the servers of Twitter as it was re-tweeted a record 3 million times.

• Ellen once hosted the popular singing reality show- American Idol.