What You Never Knew About Ellen DeGeneres

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Ellen DeGeneres is a household name, thanks to her long-running talk show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." For years, fans have watched her dance, interview celebs, and give gifts to guests. Throughout her career, she's faced more than one controversy, but has remained beloved by her many fans, and it's easy to feel like we know her after inviting her into our homes for so long. But, there's more to DeGeneres than meets the eye, and there's a lot about the television star that even her biggest fans have yet to uncover.

Born on January 26, 1958, the Louisiana native set aside dreams of becoming a veterinarian and entered the workforce as a legal secretary before turning to stand-up comedy in her twenties, according to Biography. Soon, she was landing acting gigs, including her own sitcom, quickly establishing herself as one of the most charismatic comedic personalities of her generation. Today, she's one of the most successful celebs out there, with an estimated net worth of $500 million (via Celebrity Net Worth). Think you know Ellen DeGeneres? Think again. 

In 1994, Ellen DeGeneres landed a role in a sitcom originally titled "These Friends of Mine." Per Entertainment Weekly, DeGeneres headlined the show "as Ellen Morgan, a single gal who manages a bookstore-cafe and spends her copious free time with her three amigos." The show was later retitled "Ellen" and made history in 1997 when the character of Ellen came out as a lesbian, making the sitcom "the first prime-time show to feature an openly gay lead character," as noted by Britannica.

It was a history-making moment that cemented DeGeneres' place in the pop culture lexicon. Per History, the character came out in an hour-long episode, which more than 42 million fans tuned in to watch. In a time when same-sex relationships were still somewhat taboo on television, the show broke ground, normalizing LGBTQIA+ characters on television and opening doors for shows like "Will & Grace" and "Modern Family," which prominently featured same-sex relationships, as noted by Biography.

Thanks to her status as one of the most recognizable television personalities out there, many people might not realize that Ellen DeGeneres also has some serious writing chops and is a bestselling author. DeGeneres has been churning out books since the '90s; her first book, "My Point ... and I Do Have One," was an instant bestseller back in 1995, as noted by The Spokesman-Review. Other titles, as listed on Amazon, include "Seriously ... I'm Kidding," "The Funny Thing Is...," and "Home."

DeGeneres isn't just a bestselling author — she loves reading books, too. She's doled out plenty of book recommendations to her fans over the years, per Radical Reads, with some of her favorites including "The Four Agreements," "My Gentle Barn: Creating a Sanctuary Where Animals Heal and Children Learn to Hope," "The Art of Racing in the Rain," and "The Goldfinch."

Hardcore "American Idol" fans might remember Ellen DeGeneres' brief stint as a judge on the show, but casual viewers may have missed her run on the singing competition. DeGeneres was only on the show for one season, replacing veteran host Paula Abdul in Season 9, as noted by Next TV. She ended up bowing out at the end of the season, announcing her resignation in a 2010 tweet, writing, "Dim the lights ... I've voted myself off 'American Idol.'"

While DeGeneres said in a statement at the time that "Idol" wasn't the "right fit" for her, according to Reuters, she opened up years later about just how much she hated the experience. In a 2015 appearance on the "Howard Stern Show" (via E! News), she said that joining the show was "one of the worst decisions I've made." She explained that she went into the show with high hopes, but then realized "I can't break this person's heart," adding, "Let somebody else do that."

One of Ellen DeGeneres' most memorable roles is playing the voice of Dory in the beloved Pixar film "Finding Nemo." While "Finding Nemo" is, of course, animated, DeGeneres is nonetheless unforgettable and eminently recognizable voicing the chronically forgetful fish who helps Marlin find his missing son. While DeGeneres doesn't have a lot of voice roles under her belt, the role fell into her lap. "I didn't even have to audition," she said on "Lorraine" (via Digital Spy). "They thought I did look like a fish and they said, 'You should be in this movie because we're doing this thing about fish and you look very similar to a fish.'"

It's not exactly the most flattering reason for being given a role, but DeGeneres has a good sense of humor and accepted the part. She clearly had a blast doing it, too, because for years, she complained on her talk show that the film was long overdue a sequel, as noted by Time, making it clear that she wanted to revisit Dory. A sequel was finally released in 2016, 13 years after "Finding Nemo" was released. In the follow-up, "Finding Dory," DeGeneres transitioned from sidekick to leading lady. "I think [people love] Dory persevering and helping someone even though she really is in no way in that kind of position to be able to help anybody, and she still does it," she told Entertainment Weekly of her iconic character.

Ellen DeGeneres has lent her voice and her platform to a number of causes she believes in and is a well-known advocate for the LGBTQIA+ community. Per Iowa State Unversity's Archives of Women's Political Communication, she's also worked with anti-bullying campaigns as well as pet rescue efforts. Former President Barack Obama even awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2016 for her efforts.

Despite all of the work she has done, though, she doesn't think of herself as an activist. She may stick her oar in when she thinks it's necessary but, as she told Good Housekeeping, she doesn't "look for controversy" and is "not a political person." Instead, she views herself as "a person with compassion," saying, "I care passionately about equal rights. I care about human rights. I care about animal rights." DeGeneres' ultimate goal, she said, is "to be the best I can — to be better than I was yesterday and better tomorrow."

It's well known that Ellen DeGeneres is an animal lover but what a lot of people don't know is that she is also a vegan. While people become vegan for all sorts of reasons, with some expressing concerns for the environment, animal welfare, or their health, for DeGeneres the primary motivation was definitely the well-being of the animals. She told Oprah that she cut animal products out of her diet after she "saw footage of what really goes on in the slaughterhouses and on the dairy farms."

Going vegan was no easy thing for DeGeneres, who said she "loved eating meat," but that she knew she had to follow her conscience. While she gave up animal products for the sake of animals, she did find herself feeling "healthier living in a cruelty-free way," adding that there were some extra benefits to the diet change. "I haven't been sick since, I am not as tired, and I've lost weight," she said. In 2018, however, she admitted that she had begun eating fish and eggs, and was no longer vegan after eight years.

While Ellen DeGeneres is best known these days for "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," she also has quite a lot of film roles under her belt. Her resume includes parts in "Coneheads," "Mr. Wrong," "Goodbye Lover," "The Love Letter," and, of course, voicing Dory in "Finding Nemo" and "Finding Dory." Her film career took a backseat as her television career took off; her most recent live-action film role was in 2002's "Reaching Normal." The following year, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" made its debut.

DeGeneres may yet become a modern movie star, though, expressing an interest in returning to film in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. As she explained, she felt that she needed to focus on her talk show and that she couldn't divide her focus by also continuing to act. "I thought that that was the only path," she said. She added that what she'd really like to do is go back to movies, but she can only do that when her schedule frees up a bit.