Ellen Lee DeGeneres (pron-end??d??n?r?s; born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian (Stand-up comedy), television host and actress. She hosts the syndicated (Television syndication) talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show, and is also a judge on American Idol, having joined the show in its ninth season (American Idol (season 9)).

She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong (Mr. Wrong (film)), appeared in EDtv and The Love Letter (The Love Letter (1999 film)), and provided the voice of Dory in the Disney-Pixar (Pixar Animation Studios) animated film Finding Nemo, for which she awarded a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress, the first and only time a voice acting won a Saturn Award. She also starred in two television sitcoms, Ellen (Ellen (TV series)) from 1994 to 1998 and The Ellen Show from 2001 to 2002. In 1997, during the fourth season of Ellen, she came out (coming out) publicly as a lesbian in an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show. Shortly afterwards, her character Ellen Morgan (Ellen (TV series)) also came out to a therapist played by Winfrey, and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues including the coming out process. She has won twelve Emmy (Emmy Award)s and numerous awards for her work and charitable efforts.