Ellen Degeneres

is an American stand-up comedian, television host and actress. She currently hosts the Emmy Award-winning syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. She has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. As a film actress, she starred in Mr. Wrong 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 Ellenfrom 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 to a therapist played by Oprah Winfrey and the series went on to explore various LGBT issues as well as the "coming out" process.