Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and currently the Emmy Award-winning host of the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show.

She’s 50!

She 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 Pixar animated hit film Finding Nemo.

She also starred in two television sitcoms, The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002 and Ellen from 1994 to 1998. In 1997 during the fourth season of Ellen, she “came out” publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on the Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan also came out and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues as well as the “coming out” process.

DeGeneres was born in 1958, in Metairie, Louisiana to Elliot DeGeneres, a salesman, and Elizabeth (Betty) Jane Pfeffer. She is of French, English, German and Irish descent. Along with her brother Vance DeGeneres, actor and guitarist for the rock band Cowboy Mouth, Ellen was raised as a Christian Scientist until the age of 13.

Ellen’s mother, Betty and her father, Elliot, filed for separation on December 4, 1973. The divorce was finalized in January 1974. Shortly after the divorce, Betty Jane remarried to Roy Gruessendorf, who also worked as a salesman. Betty Jane and her children moved away with Gruessendorf from the New Orleans area to Atlanta, Texas, where DeGeneres graduated from Atlanta High School on May 21, 1976, after completing her first years of high school in Metairie, Louisiana.

DeGeneres moved back to New Orleans to attend the University of New Orleans, where she majored in communications. After one semester, she left school to do clerical work in a law firm along with cousin Laura Gillen. She also held a job selling clothes at the chain-store the Merry-Go-Round at the Lakeside Shopping Center in New Orleans. Other working experiences included being a waitress at TGI Friday’s and another restaurant, a house painter, a hostess, a bartender. Finally, DeGeneres realized she didn’t want to “answer to a boss” and started to figure out what she really wanted to do.

Ellen started performing stand-up comedy at small clubs and coffeehouses before working her way up to emcee Clyde’s Comedy Club by 1981. According to imdb.com, her comedy during this period was described as a “distaff version of Bob Newhart.” In the early 1980s, she began to tour nationally, eventually winning the title of funniest person in America in a competition sponsored by the cable network Showtime. She was then able to work at higher profile venues. She appeared for the first time on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in 1986.

Personal Life:

Ellen enjoys spending time with her girlfriend and watching movies. She loves nature, animals, and clothes. On her show Ellen she talks about her love for tennis shoes.

Since 2004, DeGeneres has been in a relationship with Arrested Development and former Ally McBeal star Portia de Rossi. DeGeneres and de Rossi currently live in Beverly Hills with 3 dogs and 3 cats. One dog is a Maltipoo named Wolf.

Other January 26th Birthdays:

Paul Newman-Actor -83
Scott Glenn-Actor -66
Gene Siskel-Film Critic -62
Eddie Van Halen-Musician -53
Anita Baker-Singer -50