DEGENERES
to a Fault

Ellen DeGeneres reflects on a life lived in the camera lens

Richard Aldhous hears about her journey – and take on life

As the world’s most successful openly gay businesswoman, there’s one thing Ellen DeGeneres doesn’t need – money. Yet, that’s precisely what this highly successful chat show host and comedian can’t stop accumulating.

Worth an estimated US$ 500 million, the Louisiana born presenter and campaigner continues to receive financial rewards for her position as one of the original, leading and most dynamic campaigners on LGBT issues. Per­haps material trappings are the rewards for her effort and toil.

In addition to her own hit daytime talk show, a lifestyle apparel brand ED Ellen DeGeneres and a contract with cosmetics brand Cover­Girl, she’s also a successful ‘house flipper’ – she buys and renovates high end properties in and around Los Angeles.

Ellen says: “I don’t think any of it matters. I think the reflection of what we do is never or should never be in what we possess… [it’s] more what we offer through emotion, support and communication with those around us.”

“Certainly, in my lifetime we have made such incredible strides. People ask me if I’m proud of how much diversity there is out there. I think it’s a great thing. I think that everything we see in the media, whether it’s television or film, should represent what’s happening in the world. Everyone in the world should be seen and represented so that it’s a great conversation,” DeGeneres adds.

None of this would be possible without her partner and love of her life, Australian actress Portia de Rossi, whom she married 12 years ago. Though the couple don’t have children, they are happy to share their lives with their beloved dogs.

DeGeneres is by her own admission far from perfect. She cites forgetfulness as being something that has followed her around for years and continues to do so.

“It’s funny. I’m always surprised when people are prescribed medicine to help with forgetfulness – because how are you going to remember to take your medicine? I do have a problem with memory but I don’t plan to do anything about it because that’s who I am. I’m simply going to live in the moment and hold onto those few moments that I have,” she affirms.

And yet, it’s this presenter’s interest in others that truly defines a life in the lens that goes all the way back to the early days of the millennium when her first show aired on NBC.

Ellen explains: “I’ve always been fascinated by other people – there is so much that separates us and so much that unites us, and we’re all searching for some very basic things in life. We want to be loved, we want to be happy and we want security. I think everybody is searching for their home, whatever that is.”

“It’s obviously a concept that’s different for different people. I understand what a sense of belonging is and I understand when you say: ‘Why am I who I am? Where did I come from and how did I end up where I am?’ I can relate to that. I think everybody can. I think the message is that we can all get along even though we look different and have different traits,” she asserts.

Tolerance has clearly paid a big part in making DeGeneres who she is today. As a youngster who underwent a tough upbringing that included being molested by her stepfather, she was happy to throw herself into the limelight by performing stand-up. She didn’t come out as gay until 1997, by which time her sitcom ‘Ellen’ had reached its height in popularity.

However, things quickly deteriorated after that and the show was cancelled a year later; and The Ellen Show, which was a sitcom on CBS, didn’t fare much better. Nevertheless, upon reinventing herself as a chat show host with The Ellen DeGeneres Show, she not only gave new meaning and purpose to the daytime chat format but also provided a platform on which she could speak to a new audience about life experiences.

If we were only made up of love, joy and all good things, and nothing bad ever happened to us, we’d be a little less layered

Though she never uses her show as a sounding board for LGBT issues, it has become a useful canvas for those of all persuasions looking to express themselves – and always with a comedic edge. Indeed, comedy and humour have clearly been a tremendous vehicle for the multi-award-winning host who lives in Beverly Hills.

She asserts: “I think as you get older, you get wiser and you start looking at life in a completely different way. And life is a very interesting journey that’s filled with surprises, which are sometimes good and sometimes not.”

“Don’t celebrate the good too much; and don’t get too down about the bad. And remember, if we were only made up of love, joy and all good things, and nothing bad ever happened to us, we’d be a little less layered. Embrace the bad with the good and simply keep swimming,” Ellen encourages her audiences.

– Compiled by hub.branded