Michael Shanks - site 2006: background on Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres was born on January 26, 1958 in Metairie, Louisiana. She moved to Atlanta, Texas with her mother, Betty, when her parents were divorced. She moved back to New Orleans to atten the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communications.

Ellen began her stand-up career performing at friend’s parties, but soon started to perform at small clubs and coffeehouses. She eventually became the emcee at Clyde’s Comedy Club and in 1981 she started recording her club performances.

In 1982 Showtime chose Ellen as the funniest person in America.

In 1986 Ellen was invited to perform on the Tonight Show. She was the first female to ever be asked over to the couch to visit with Johnny Carson on her first visit.

Ellen rose to national attention when her material was turned into the subject matter for the sitcom, Ellen. It ran from 1194-1998.In April 1997, Ellen (and her character on the show) came out of the closet on national television and publicly declared that she was a lesbian. When the show was cancelled, she returned to the stand-up comedy circuit. Uploaded Image In 2000, she performed her first HBO stand-up special entitled Ellen DeGeneres: The Beginning.

In 2001 Ellen returned to TV with The Ellen Show, a CBS sitcom. It received low ratings and was cancelled after just one year.

In 2003, she launched a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and has had continued success on the show. Also this year she recorded her second HBO stand-up special, Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now, which brings me to my artifact.

What is the Ellen DeGeneres: Here and Now DVD?

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