Thrive: 30 Inspirational Rags-to-Riches Stories

Ellen DeGeneres

Ellen DeGeneres was born and raised in Metairie, Louisiana. Her mother was a speech therapist and her father was an insurance salesman. From an early age, Ellen developed an interest in comedy. At age thirteen, when her parents divorced, Ellen had used her comedy in order to make her mother laugh. She attended King High School but graduated from Atlanta High School when her mother remarried and moved to Atlanta, Louisiana, bringing sixteen-year-old Ellen with her.

Ellen attended the University of New Orleans but dropped out after one semester. She then held a series of jobs, including work as a secretary at a law firm, selling vacuum cleaners, waiting tables, painting, a hostess, and as a bartender. She fell in love with her roommate, Kat Perkoff, and the two moved into a house together. With Kat's support, Ellen wrote short, humorous essays she hoped would be published in magazines. She loved to make people laugh, and her peers took notice. A friend invited her to perform at a luncheon she was hosting. Ellen performed with no written act, eating a hamburger and French fries. She was a hit, and friends encouraged Ellen to write an act and perform stand-up comedy. She did, and became instantly addicted to the local comedy scene.

Ellen's personal life deteriorated when she discovered Kat was cheating on her. Ellen moved out, hoping to teach Kat a lesson. A few days later, she ran into Kat at a comedy club but pretended not to hear her. Later that night, Kat was killed in a car accident. Ellen had driven past the accident but didn't realize it was her until the following morning. To overcome this devastating event, Ellen engaged in a monologue to God in her head, questioning why he could possibly let this happen. The monologue eventually developed into a stand-up routine called Phone Call to God, which Ellen became convinced she would perform on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson someday. She became the emcee at Clyde's Comedy Club in New Orleans, Louisiana and performed at small venues across the country. Ellen sent a video of her stand-up routine to compete for television network Showtime's Funniest Person in Louisiana competition and won. She followed by winning Showtime's Funniest Person in America competition at twenty-seven years old.

Despite winning the competition, Ellen continued to perform in small venues with often tough audiences. Then, one night, Ellen performed her Phone Call to God routine with an associate producer for The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in the crowd. Impressed, the associate producer booked Ellen to perform on the show, just as she had envisioned. She was a hit, and became the only female comic to be invited by Carson to the famed couch after her performance. After the show, Ellen received multiple offers to perform stand-up at comedy clubs.

Ellen then made her way into television, having landed a small role on the television series Open House. However, the show was cancelled after one season. She then took on another supporting role on the television series Laurie Hill, which was also cancelled after a few episodes. However, the show's creators, Neal Marlens and Carol Black, were impressed with Ellen and created a television show around her, titled These Friends of Mine. The show struggled during its first season and was renamed Ellen.

Ellen reached its height in popularity when Ellen publicly came out as a lesbian on The Oprah Winfrey Show in February 1997. She also announced her character's homosexuality on Ellen, which attracted major media attention, as well as 46 million viewers for the airing of "The Puppy Episode" on April 30, 1997. The bold move shaped Ellen into an outspoken advocate for gay rights. However, ABC cancelled the show after pressure from religious rights groups.

With her career spiraling down, Ellen took on small movie projects and returned to stand-up comedy. She received wide exposure after hosting the 2001 Emmy Awards. After repeated attempts, she landed another television sitcom, The Ellen Show, which was cancelled after just one season due to poor ratings. She followed by launching a daytime television talk show, The Ellen DeGeneres Show, later renamed Ellen, which aired on September 8, 2003 and proved to be a critical hit and commercial success. On March 12, 2013, NBC renewed the show through the 2016-2017 television season, marking over thirteen seasons on television.