What makes ellen degeneres successful

But in the '80s, she started doing stand up at comedy clubs. By , she was touring the country and even won Showtime's Funniest Person in America contest. Later that year, DeGeneres co-hosted the Emmy Awards.

Then, in , everything changed. DeGeneres decided to come out as gay — on the cover of time magazine. She also sat down for candid interviews with Diane Sawyer and Oprah Winfrey. At the same time, DeGeneres's character on "Ellen" came out as gay, too. But her bravery came with significant backlash.

She didn't just suffer professionally: Coming out was a personal struggle, too. Soon, DeGeneres was making public appearances with her girlfriend, actress Anne Heche. The couple would split in DeGeneres dated actress Alexandra Hedison next.

They were together from to That's when DeGeneres's TV career started picking up again. Two years later, she voiced the famously forgetful Dory in "Finding Nemo. This was her very first monologue:. In , DeGeneres started dating her future wife: actress Portia de Rossi. They got hitched in , and eight years of marriage later, they still make an adorable couple on the red carpet. The next few years brought more milestones: Hosting the Emmys again in , hosting the Oscars in , and becoming a Covergirl spokesmodel in She even had a single-season stint as a judge on American Idol in All the while, her talk show was thriving — even when things went awry.

After tearing a ligament in , DeGeneres hosted the show from a hospital bed. But the show also received rounds of applause from gay-friendly activists — including DeGeneres's mother, Betty DeGeneres, 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 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 , 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. In , Ellen DeGeneres became a big hit with daytime viewers with her self-titled talk show, Ellen. Since its inception, the show has won a slew of awards, including 64 Daytime Emmys for a daytime talk show.

In May , DeGeneres announced she'll be ending her talk show in By the time her show was canceled, DeGeneres had already made the move to the big screen, starring in the dark comedy Mr. Wrong as a woman in search of the perfect man. Also in , DeGeneres lent her voice to the animated box office smash Finding Nemo, in which she plays a friendly yet forgetful little blue fish named Dory.

DeGeneres later returned to the Nemo franchise with the sequel, Finding Dory. A unique combination of kind and funny, Ellen DeGeneres became a popular choice to host major awards telecasts. She was tapped to host the Grammys in and ; the Primetime Emmys in and ; and the Academy Awards in and Underscoring her popularity, DeGeneres in was chosen to fill the coveted fourth slot as a judge on American Idol , replacing Paula Abdul.

DeGeneres is also the author of several books, including My Point I'm Kidding and Home 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 , Repeat After Me , One Big Happy , Little Big Shots and her HGTV reality competition show, Ellen's Design Challenge. Juggling many roles in Hollywood, DeGeneres has continued building her empire. Wrong, The Love Letter.

In , she received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Her success story from being a stand-up comedian to hosting her own TV show is inspirational to many. In , her parents divorced each other and she moved to Atlanta, Georgia.

When she was around 15 years old, her stepfather molested her. In another incident, her stepfather tried to break into her room which lead her to climb out a window to flee the house. After the first semester, Ellen dropped out of college to do clerical work in a law firm with her cousin.

Following this, she worked at a string of jobs which included: a stint at a retail store, a waitress, house painter, a hostess, and a bartender. She even sold vacuum cleaners door-to-door. Ellen started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffee houses. She started touring nationally and in , Showtime named her the funniest person in America. After her set, the host, Johnny Carson, invited her to sit next to him.

Ellen became the first female comedian to be invited over and receive the honour. The show went on to become one of the top-rating daytime television talk shows of all time. Out of all the talk shows during that season, her show received the highest ratings and critical praise.

It was nominated for 11 Emmy Awards in its first season, winning four. The show won 25 Emmy Awards for its first three seasons.